ARIAroller

ARIAroller is a software library that provides a framework for building accessible roller-style user interface widgets using ARIA attributes. It targets components such as sliders, carousels, and numeric steppers, guiding developers to implement consistent keyboard navigation, focus management, and live region updates across frameworks.

Origin and goals: Conceived by a consortium of frontend developers and accessibility researchers, ARIAroller began as an open-source project in 2019 to codify best practices for dynamic, ARIA-enabled widgets and to reduce the custom-implementation burden on teams seeking accessibility compliance.

Features and API: The library offers modular components and utilities for creating roller inputs, value formatting, and state management. It standardizes roles and aria-valuenow semantics, supports keyboard interactions (arrow keys, Home/End, Page Up/Down), and provides live region messaging for screen readers. The API emphasizes declarative usage with adapters for React, Vue, and vanilla JavaScript, plus a set of plug-ins for theming, validation, and localization.

Architecture and compatibility: ARIAroller is designed to be framework-agnostic, with a core that wires ARIA attributes to DOM widgets and optional adapters for popular frameworks. It aims to be compatible with screen readers such as NVDA, VoiceOver, and JAWS on Windows, macOS, and mobile devices, while encouraging authors to test with real assistive technologies.

Usage and reception: The library is distributed via package managers and includes documentation and examples. It has been cited in accessibility discussions as a reference for building accessible dynamic widgets, though adoption in production projects varies and some teams find ARIA requirements complex.

See also: ARIA, accessible rich internet applications, sliders, carousels.