RE: ACTION-1442: Draft spec text for aria-current and aria-currentfor

Below is revised draft text I propose based on the draft in Léonie 's last 
message on the topic.

Revisions:
1. Clarified that false and undefined can, but do not necessarily,  have 
the same meaning.
2. Added that AT, in addition to UAs, AT should not convey the false or 
undefined state.
3. Made examples more precise in an attempt to help the first-time reader 
more easily understand the primary purpose.
4. Expanded notes to clarify similarities and differences with 
aria-selected.

In the following text, phrases in square brackets are intended to be 
links.

Aria-current attribute

Indicates an element represents the current item within a container or set 
of related elements.

The aria-current attribute indicates whether an element represents what is 
current (true), or not current (false).  If the aria-current attribute is 
false or undefined, the aria-current state of an element SHOULD not be 
conveyed by User Agents or assistive technologies.

The aria-current attribute is used when one of the elements in a set of 
related elements has a visual style different from other members in the 
set to indicate that the element identifies what is current. For example, 
it can be used to indicate which [link] in a set of [navigation] links is 
visually styled to indicate that it is the link for the currently 
displayed page. Similarly, it can be used to indicate which step in a 
[list] of wizard steps is visually styled to inform the user that the 
currently displayed wizard content is for that step.

Note:
When applied to an element contained in a widget that supports selection, 
the meaning of aria-current is different from the meaning of 
[aria-selected]. Authors should not use aria-current in lieu of 
aria-selected and should avoid using aria-current in circumstances where 
the meaning of aria-current would be the same as aria-selected. For 
example, in a single-select [tablist] where the selected [tab] element 
corresponds to the displayed tabpanel, aria-current is unnecessary. 
However, if the selected state of a tab is used to indicate which tab is 
selected for an action, such as move, delete, or make current, then 
aria-current should be used to indicate which tab represents the currently 
displayed tabpanel. Examples that further explain how to use aria-current 
and aria-selected are available in the [WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices].

Characteristics of aria-current

Used in roles: All elements of the base markup.

Value: true/false/undefined

Values of aria-current

true: The element is current.
false: The element is not current
undefined: The element is either not current or can not be made current.

Matt King
IBM Senior Technical Staff Member
I/T Chief Accessibility Strategist
IBM BT/CIO - Global Workforce and Web Process Enablement 
Phone: (503) 578-2329, Tie line: 731-7398
mattking@us.ibm.com