arialive

aria-live is a WAI-ARIA attribute used to mark regions of a web page as dynamic areas whose changes should be announced by assistive technologies such as screen readers. It helps provide accessibility for content that updates after the page loads, without requiring user focus changes.

The attribute accepts values including off, polite, and assertive. Off means changes in the region are not announced. Polite indicates that announcements should be made at the next natural pause in the user’s interaction, avoiding interruptions. Assertive requests immediate announcements that may interrupt the user to convey important updates. In practice, many developers pair aria-live with role="status" or role="alert" to signal the desired urgency.

Other related properties influence how updates are announced. aria-atomic controls whether the entire region is read when any change occurs (true) or only the altered portion (false). aria-relevant can refine which changes are announced, with possible values such as additions, removals, text, or all. Together, these attributes give developers control over the sensitivity and scope of live-region notifications.

Usage is common for dynamic notifications, chat messages, validation results, or progress updates. A typical pattern is to place updates in a live region and update its content with DOM changes, ensuring the region remains in the document flow and is not hidden from assistive technologies.

Compatibility varies by platform and reader; modern desktop and mobile screen readers generally handle aria-live, but behavior can differ. Care should be taken to ensure updates are concise, meaningful, and not overwhelming to users.