Frequently Asked Questions

How can I learn more about the problems ARIA-AT aims to solve?

• Watch the introduction video on the ARIA-AT Home page
• Read How Gaps in Assistive Technology Interoperability Hinder Inclusion
• Read the draft assistive technology automation API explainer.

If ARIA-AT succeeds, won’t it make all screen readers the same and kill screen reader competition?

No, just like interoperable browsers are not identical, interoperable screen readers won’t be identical. ARIA-AT doesn’t aim to change the distinguishing characteristics of screen readers. When ARIA-AT achieves success for screen readers, participating screen readers will, by default, equally convey accessibility semantics that have been deemed necessary. The semantics may be conveyed differently by different screen readers, but the meaning of what is conveyed will be equivalent.

In fact, since the automated testing infrastructure being built for ARIA-AT will reduce the overhead and time required for screen reader quality assurance, we expect ARIA-AT to foster screen reader feature innovation that was not previously practical.

What is the timetable for ARIA-AT?

By the end of 2023, the community group aims to provide a stable and mature test suite for five screen readers: NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver on macOS, VoiceOver on iOS, and TalkBack on Android. The test suite will cover all examples in the ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (APG) and all semantics defined by the ARIA specification and be run in most popular browsers.

Progress drafting test plans for the APG examples and ARIA attributes is tracked in the coverage report.

Beyond 2023, we plan to increase the scope to include additional screen readers and other kinds of assistive technologies. Enabling assistive technology interoperability is a large, ongoing endeavor that requires long-term industry-wide collaboration and support.

Why is ARIA-AT focusing on only five screen readers at this time?

Currently, we are focused on test plans that cover APG examples when using NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver on macOS. Assuming sufficient progress, we will start work on test plans for VoiceOver on iOS and TalkBack on Android in the second half of 2022.

With a project of this magnitude, keeping the scope manageable is critical to success. We are starting with desktop screen readers because improving their interoperability appears to offer the greatest benefit with the fewest risks. Desktop screen readers present the richest set of interoperability problems, browser expectations are clearly defined by ARIA, much of the stack has publicly available source code, and there are multiple potential paths toward automation.

What is the process for developing tests and gaining consensus on expected behaviors?

• The test development team drafts a test plan, documenting design decisions in a GitHub issue.
• Each test plan development issue is tracked on the test plan development project board.
• After a draft test plan is merged into the main branch, it can be viewed on the test plan review page.
• When community group members are ready to review, validate, and run a draft test plan, the test plan is added to the test queue.
• After at least two group members generate identical results for a test plan and agree that the plan meets its objectives, their test results are pushed to the reports page as a candidate report.
• Candidate test plan reports are shared with assistive technology developers and the process of resolving issues and establishing consensus begins. Once consensus is established, the plan moves from candidate status to recommended status.
• The complete process is documented in the community group working mode.

What opportunities are available to people who want to help?

You can learn about community group work streams and opportunities to help on our page about Contributing to the ARIA and Assistive Technologies Project.

When does the community group meet?

Each workstream has a separate meeting schedule described on the Meetings page. The primary community group meeting where test plans are discussed is weekly on Thursdays. Meetings are announced on the public aria-at mailing list, and agendas are posted on the Meetings page.

How can I ask questions or provide feedback?

• To provide feedback on a draft test plan, raise an issue in the aria-at repository. For test plans that are in the test queue, each test page includes a raise issue link. Test plan reports also include a raise issue link for each test.
• To provide feedback on the aria-at-w3.org web site, raise an issue in the aria-at-app repository.
• Other questions may be asked via an aria-at issue or by sending email to the public aria-at mailing list.