What are ARIA roles used for?

ARIA roles are specifically designed to provide additional information to assistive technologies, such as screen readers, to ensure that users with disabilities can interact with web content effectively. By utilizing ARIA roles, developers can convey the purpose and structure of specific elements on a webpage that may not be natively communicated through standard HTML. This includes defining roles for user interface elements, which helps assistive technologies understand how to interpret and interact with those elements.

For example, using ARIA roles, a developer can indicate that a certain element is a “navigation” or a “banner,” enhancing the understanding of the page layout for those relying on assistive devices. This approach directly improves accessibility by ensuring that users receive necessary context about how to navigate or interact with web content, particularly for dynamic content or custom widgets that might not follow traditional HTML semantics.

The other options, while they may address different aspects of web development and interaction, do not align with the primary function of ARIA roles. They either pertain to design elements, user access control, or data analysis, none of which are relevant to the purpose of enhancing accessibility through ARIA roles.