Re: Do text nodes, e.g. paragraphs have an "Accessible Name"

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for your comment and guidance.

I am trying to understand if the inner text content or Inner left text as some browsers call it of elements like paragraphs, divs, spans, block quotes - elements that are not directly interactive - becomes the accessible name of the content-like elements or if the term “accessible name” is reserved specifically for interactive elements like a button, checkbox, slider, etc.

I understand that an accessible name can be provided through diverse techniques, some preferred over other.

Is inner content for non-interactive elements ever considered to be an accessible name?

Taliesin
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Taliesin L. Smith
talilief@gmail.com 
taliesin.smith@colorado.edu 

Inclusive Design Research Specialist
PhET Interactive Simulations
http://phet.colorado.edu/
Department of Physics
University of Colorado, Boulder






> On Oct 26, 2024, at 09:00, Bryan Garaventa <bryan.garaventa@whatsock.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> No, paragraphs, divs, and spans do not receive accessible names. Many static elements that have implicit roles do though, such as a heading. Typically this happens by itself in the background for such things like headings since they receive ‘name from content’.
>>  
>> If unclear, you can use this page to test it.
>> https://whatsock.github.io/w3c-alternative-text-computation/Editable%20Live%20Input%20AccName%20Test.html
>>  
>> E.G. This results in no accessible name.
>>  
>> <p id="test" aria-label="Something" > Content </p>
>>  
>> However this does result in the accessible name: “Something”
>>  
>> <p role="heading" id="test" aria-label="Something" > Content </p>
>>  
>> Note this can be dangerous though, because now the content is inaccessible.
>>  
>> Please be very careful when applying aria-label and aria-labelledby to elements. It’s always good to test them first to be sure.
>>  
>> All the best,
>> Bryan
>>  
>> On Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 8:37 PM Taliesin Smith <talilief@gmail.com <mailto:talilief@gmail.com>> wrote:
>>> Dear Interest Group Members,
>>>  
>>> I have always thought of an "accessible name" as required content for an interactive thing like a button or a checkbox or slider, etc.
>>>  
>>> Do text elements like paragraphs, headings, list items have accessible names, that is if there is no added aria-label attribute.
>>>  
>>> Developers on our team are abstracting / simplifying our current API that builds accessibility into our interactive simulations. The plan is to make the API very simple, like everything gets an accessible name. This seemed a little odd to me, as I have never thought of a paragraph as having an accessible name.
>>>  
>>> Do text nodes have accessible names by default?
>>>  
>>> Taliesin
>>>  
>>>  
>>> ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
>>> Taliesin L. Smith
>>> talilief@gmail.com <mailto:talilief@gmail.com> 
>>> taliesin.smith@colorado.edu <mailto:taliesin.smith@colorado.edu> 
>>> 
>>> Inclusive Design Research Specialist
>>> PhET Interactive Simulations
>>> http://phet.colorado.edu/
>>> Department of Physics
>>> University of Colorado, Boulder