HTML Guide for aria-expanded

The aria-expanded attribute can only be true, false, or undefined.

This attribute indicates whether a grouping element is expanded or collapsed.

Using aria-required on a div element requires more context about that element, by providing one of the attributes aria-expanded, aria-valuemax, aria-valuemin, aria-valuenow, role.

When possible, you should prefer semantic tags like input, select and textarea, and use the required attribute, but when form controls are created using non-semantic elements, such as a div element, the aria-required attribute should be included with a value of true to indicate to assistive technologies that user input is required on the element for the form to be submittable. In that case, other attributes might be needed to make the element valid.

For example, we could build a radiogroup using a div like this:

<div aria-required="true">
  <div data-value="One"></div> 1
  <div data-value="Two"></div> 2
  <div data-value="Three"></div> 3
</div>

This HTML snippet would then be decorated using CSS and added functionality using JavaScript. However, the W3C validator will complain that the element div is missing one of the attributes aria-expanded, aria-valuemax, aria-valuemin, aria-valuenow, role.

We can fix that by adding the appropiate role to that div element, like this:

<div aria-required="true" role="radiogroup">
  <div data-value="One"></div> 1
  <div data-value="Two"></div> 2
  <div data-value="Three"></div> 3
</div>

Here is an example showing how to add the “role” attribute to the “div” element:

<div role="region">
    <!-- Your content goes here -->
</div>

In this example, the role attribute is added with the value radiogroup. You can choose the appropriate ARIA role based on the purpose or role of your div element.

Remember to also provide the necessary values for the specified attributes if you are adding aria-valuemax, aria-valuemin, or aria-valuenow to ensure proper accessibility and usability of your content.

A span element that conveys special meaning or interactive state must have appropriate ARIA attributes or role to be accessible and pass validation.

The span element is a generic inline container with no semantic meaning. To make it meaningful for assistive technologies (such as screen readers), ARIA attributes or a role attribute should be used when the element represents states, properties, or interactive features.

For example, in the following code the span is used to visually indicate a required field with an asterisk *, but it lacks additional semantic information:

<span class="required" aria-required="true"> *</span>

To address this, add role="presentation" (to mark it as purely visual), or use aria-hidden="true" (to hide it from assistive technology), as the asterisk does not have semantic value for screen readers. Only use ARIA required (aria-required="true") on the form control (e.g., input), not on the decorative indicator.

Recommended HTML (decorative asterisk not announced):

<span class="required" aria-hidden="true">*</span>

Alternative (if you want to announce “required”): Announce “required” with visually hidden text and use the actual aria-required="true" on the input.

<label for="name">
  Name
  <span class="required" aria-hidden="true">*</span>
  <span class="visually-hidden">Required</span>
</label>
<input id="name" name="name" aria-required="true">

This approach ensures accessibility, semantic correctness, and W3C HTML validation compliance.