ARIA state
aria-invalid
Says a field's value has failed validation.
It marks the field as wrong, and names the kind of wrong where that helps, spelling or grammar. Setting it changes what the field announces and nothing else. The red border is CSS's job and the explanation is aria-errormessage's.
Which roles may carry aria-invalid
- Value
- token
- Filed as
- A state, which is how ARIA files it and not a rule about how often it changes.
- Roles that may carry it
application,checkbox,combobox,gridcell,listbox,radiogroup,slider,spinbutton,textbox,tree- Roles that inherit it
columnheader,rowheader,searchbox,switch,treegrid
Those lists are not advice. Browsers are required to ignore a non-global attribute sitting on a role that does not support it, so aria-invalid on the wrong element is not weak, it is absent. You can read it in the DOM and nobody using a screen reader can.
Every role above comes from the specification's own list for this attribute, checked name for name. The normative definition stays with the W3C, in the aria-invalid section of the ARIA specification.
Keeping aria-invalid true
Both directions matter and usually only one gets written. Fields are marked invalid on a failed submit and then stay marked after somebody fixes them, which turns a helpful signal into a permanent complaint. Clear it in the same handler that accepts the new value. The coercion rule catches people out as well. Any value browsers do not recognise has to be treated as true, so aria-invalid set to none marks the field invalid just as firmly as true would. Write false, or take the attribute off. As with aria-disabled and aria-haspopup, ARIA 1.2 deprecated using this on any role, so it belongs where a role supports it.
How aria-invalid gets checked
There are test rules that check an ARIA attribute is one that exists, is allowed on the role underneath it, and carries a value of the right type. What they map to is ARIA's own author requirements rather than any WCAG criterion, so a misplaced attribute breaks ARIA without being a WCAG failure by itself. It becomes one under 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value the moment the missing or wrong value means the control's state cannot be worked out programmatically, which is what usually happens next.
Nothing automated catches the failure this page is about. A stale value is a valid value, on a permitted role, with the right type. It is only wrong about the world.
Attributes you will meet alongside aria-invalid
- aria-activedescendant Points at the item inside a composite widget that is currently active, when focus stays on the container.
- aria-autocomplete How a text field predicts what you are typing.
- aria-checked Whether a checkbox, radio or switch is on, off, or partly on.
- aria-disabled Says a control is present but not available. Unlike the disabled attribute, it stays focusable, so people can still find out it is there.
- aria-errormessage Points at the message explaining why this field is invalid. Only meaningful while aria-invalid is set.
- aria-expanded Whether the thing this control opens is currently open.
- aria-haspopup Says this control opens something, and what kind of thing it opens. A menu, a dialog, a listbox.
- aria-multiline Whether a text field takes more than one line, which changes what Enter does.
Every ARIA state and property · Every ARIA role · ARIA explained