HTML Guides for unrecognized token
Learn how to identify and fix common HTML validation errors flagged by the W3C Validator — so your pages are standards-compliant and render correctly across every browser. Also check our Accessibility Guides.
The role attribute contains a token that does not name a defined, non-abstract ARIA role.
A role value can contain a list of tokens separated by spaces. Browsers read the list from left to right and use the first recognized, non-abstract role. They ignore unknown tokens such as initial. Although initial is a CSS keyword, it does not reset an ARIA role.
Remove the unrecognized token and keep the role that describes the element's purpose. In this example, status identifies a message that assistive technologies can announce when it changes. Removing initial preserves that role. If a native HTML element already provides the intended semantics, use it without an unnecessary role attribute.
Invalid example
<div role="initial status">Application received.</div>
Valid example
<div role="status">Application received.</div>
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