The beginner’s guide to ARIA. How to use it and why you should normally leave it alone.

If you have worked in frontend development for a while, and have tried to make your solutions accessible to all, you have probably encountered a few aria-attributes - small hints to screen readers about how to interpret elements on the web page.

ARIA can be very helpful and in some cases completely necessary to provide users of screen readers the same experience as seeing users. However, it can also be really destructive. There are many reasons why the first rule of ARIA is to not use ARIA (if you can), and why websites with ARIA attributes are generally less accessible than those without any ARIA.

Knowledge is key, so let us dive into how to use ARIA and when to leave it alone, so you can build more accessible solutions with confidence!