ariadisabled

Ariadisabled, short for aria-disabled, is an ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) state used in web accessibility to indicate that an element is perceivable but not interactive. It communicates to assistive technologies that the element should be treated as disabled, even if the element’s native HTML semantics do not provide a disabled state. This attribute does not inherently change the element’s behavior; it primarily conveys status to users of assistive technology.

Ariadisabled is typically applied to non-native interactive elements, such as custom controls with roles like button or slider, where there is no built-in disabled attribute. When used on native controls (for example, a div used as a button), developers usually pair aria-disabled="true" with other changes to prevent interaction, since the element may still be focusable or clickable. For native interactive elements (button, input, select, textarea), the recommended approach is to use the native disabled attribute; aria-disabled should be used only when a native disablement is not available or cannot fully convey the state.

Management and best practices include keeping the state in sync with actual interactivity, removing or guarding event handlers when disabled, and adjusting focus behavior (for instance, using tabindex="-1" to prevent focus when appropriate). Visual cues should accompany the aria-disabled state to avoid relying solely on the attribute for meaning.

Example: a custom element with role="button" and aria-disabled="true" might also have tabindex="0" or be removed from the tab order when inappropriate.

See also: WAI-ARIA, accessibility guidelines, aria-checked, aria-selected.