Rule: Landmarks must be uniquely identifiable

Rule ID Landmark 17
Conformance Required
Definition Multiple instances of landmarks with the same role must have unique accessible names.
Purpose
  • Landmarks identify the regions of content on a page.
  • When a landmark does not have an author-defined accessible name, assistive technologies will use its ARIA role as an identifier.
  • When there is more than one landmark of the same type on the page (e.g., multiple navigation and/or region landmarks), additional labeling through the use of author-defined accessible names is needed to allow users to differentiate among them.
Conformance Required
WCAG Success Criteria

Success Criterion 1.3.1 Info and Relationships

Other Related Success Criterion:

Rule Category Landmarks
Rule Scope Element
Techniques
  • Use the aria-labelledby attribute to provide a unique accessible name by referencing the id of a heading or other element on the page that describes the content of the landmark.
  • Use the aria-label attribute to provide a unique accessible name that describes the content of the landmark.
  • The title attribute may be used to provide a unique accessible name that describes the content of the landmark. Note, however, that many browsers will also generate a tooltip from the title attribute value.
  • While ARIA landmarks may be defined using the role attribute, some HTML5 sectioning elements have default landmark roles (e.g., main, nav, aside, search and in some situations, header and footer). Thus when multiple nav elements, for example, are used on a page, define a unique accessible name for each of them.
Information Links