Test WAVE Tool with aria-label

Checkbox with an aria-label

Checkbox with an aria-label and a title attribute

Checkbox with a title attribute only

Source

Checkbox with an aria-label

<input id="gwt-uid-632" type="checkbox" value="on" style="vertical-align: middle;" aria-label="Order 145. On selection a new window will be opened." title="Order 145. On selection a new window will be opened.">

Checkbox with an aria-label and a title attribute

<input id="gwt-uid-632" type="checkbox" value="on" style="vertical-align: middle;" aria-label="Order  145. On selection a new window will be opened." title="Order 145. On selection a new window will be opened.">

Checkbox with a title attribute

<input id="gwt-uid-632" type="checkbox" value="on" style="vertical-align: middle;" title="Order 145. On selection a new window will be opened.">

Comments

The above test is from an application which has a checkbox in the first column of each row of a table of search results which the user can choose. The purpose of the checkbox is visually evident from the table header and the contents of the row, and wai aria-label was added to meet WCAG and make it easier for screen reader users as they move through the row.

The first checkbox which only has an aria-label fails the WAVE
The second checkbox which has a title AND and aria-label passes with a warning that there is no label.
The third checkbox which has a title passes with a warning that there is no label.

WAVE should pass all of the checkboxes. WCAG Technique ARIA6 is sufficient to meet WCAG Success Criteria 1.1.1, which requires labels for objects. In this case there is no need to have the Title attribute to meet WCAG. It is fine to throw warnings in these cases, so the author can check that there is a good reason for not putting an explicit visual label, butWAVE should not failure any of these.

This is a limitation of the WAVE when used on sites relying on WAI ARIA to conform to WCAG.

If you are trying to keep WAVE from complaining, don't rely on WAI ARIA.