ARIA role tests on MAC and Windows - Safari 4 beta & Safari 4.0

Summary

WAI-ARIA has 59 possible role values (excluding abstract roles):

Safari 4 Beta on MAC exposes 15 role values correctly via The MAC accessibility API
Safari 4.0 on MAC exposes 17 role values correctly via The MAC accessibility API
Safari 4 Beta on Windows exposes 8 role values via MSAA
Safari 4.0 on Windows exposes 8 role values via MSAA

Software used for testing

MAC OS X 10.4.11
Safari 4 beta
Safari 4.0
Accessibility UIElementInspector
Inspect32

Methodology

Use UIElementInspector tool to verify the roles exposed via the MAC accessibility API for each of the WAI-ARIA role attribute values.
Use Inspect32 tool to verify the roles exposed via MSAA for each of the WAI-ARIA role attribute values.
The first column of the results tables contain cells with each of the 59 ARIA roles assigned, for example:
<td tabindex="0" role="alert">alert</td>
Place the mouse cursor in the cell, but not over the text the cell contains. Use of Mouse is required for the MAC tests as the Inspector tool does not react to focus events.
"Expected Roles" were derived from reading the various references and trying to patch together expectations based on them.

Notes

If the role name is included in the result column for a browser without any annotation, it indciates the correct role is being exposed, otherwise:
- (Unsure) after a result means it is not clear if the exposed role is appropriate.
- X after a result means an incorrect or no role is exposed.
For roles with an "Expected MAC Accessibility API Role" value of "Not Known" the incorrect role value is being derived from the td element the role attribute is assigned to.

WAI-ARIA Role values exposed via MAC accessibility API
ARIA Role	Expected MAC accessibility API Role	Safari 4 beta - Reported MAC accessibility API Role	Safari 4.0 - Reported MAC accessibility API Role
alert	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
alertdialog	AXRoleWindow, AXSubroleDialog	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
application	AXApplication	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
article	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
banner	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
button	AXButton	AXButton	AXButton
checkbox	AXCheckBox	AXCheckBox	AXCheckBox
columnheader	AXTable, AXHeader:"1"	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
combobox	AXComboBox	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
complementary	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
contentinfo	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
dialog	AXRoleWindow, AXSubroleDialog	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
directory	AXList	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
document	AXWebArea?	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
grid	AXTable	AXGroup X	AXTable
gridcell	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
group	AXGroup	AXGroup	AXGroup
heading	AXHeading	AXHeading	AXHeading
img	AXImage	AXImage	AXImage
label	AXStaticText	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
link	AXLInk	AXLink	AXLink
list	AXList	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
listbox	AXList	AXList	AXList
listitem	AXList, AXChildren	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
log	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
main	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
marquee	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
math	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
menu	AXMenu	AXMenu	AXMenu
menubar	AXMenuBar	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
menuitem	AXMenuItem	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
menuitemcheckbox	AXMenuItem	AXMenuItem	AXMenuItem
menuitemradio	AXMenuItem	AXMenuItem	AXMenuItem
navigation	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
note	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
option	AXList, AXChildren	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
presentation	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
progressbar	AXProgressIndicator	AXProgressIndicator	AXProgressIndicator
radio	AXRadioButton	AXRadioButton	AXRadioButton
radiogroup	AXRadioGroup	AXGroup	AXGroup
row	AXRow	AXGroup X	AXRow X
region	Not known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
rowheader	AXTable, AXHeader:"1"	AXGroup X	AXUnknown X
search	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
separator	AXSplitter	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
slider	AXSlider	AXSlider	AXSlider
spinbutton	AXProgressIndicator	AXProgressIndicator	AXProgressIndicator
status	AXStaticText, AXHelp:"Status messsage"	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
tab	AXRadioButton, AXRoleDescription: "tab"	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
tablist	AXTabGroup? AXRadioGroup?	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
tabpanel	AXTabGroup	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
textbox	AXField or AXTextArea	AXTextArea	AXTextArea
timer	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
toolbar	AXToolbar	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
tooltip	Not Known	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
tree	AXOutline	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
treegrid	AXOutline	AXGroup X	AXGroup X
treeitem	AXRow, AXRoleDescription: "outline row"	AXGroup X	AXGroup X

WAI-ARIA Role values exposed via MSAA
ARIA Role	Expected MSAA Role	Safari 4 beta- Reported Role	Safari 4 - Reported Role
alert	alert	grouping X	document X
alertdialog	dialog	grouping X	document X
application	application	grouping X	document X
article	None	grouping X	document X
banner	None	grouping X	document X
button	push button	push button	document X
checkbox	check box	check box	document X
columnheader	column header	grouping X	document X
combobox	combo box	grouping X	document X
complementary	None	grouping X	document X
contentinfo	None	grouping X	document X
definition	None	grouping X	document X
dialog	dialog	grouping X	document X
directory	list	grouping X	document X
document	client, document	grouping X	document X
grid	table	grouping X	document X
gridcell	cell	grouping X	document X
group	grouping	grouping	document X
heading	text, heading	client X	document X
img	graphic	graphic	document X
label	text	grouping X	grouping X
link	link	link	document X
list	list	grouping X	document X
listbox	list	client X	document X
listitem	list item	grouping X	document X
log	None	grouping X	document X
main	None	grouping X	document X
marquee	animation? marquee?	grouping X	document X
math	equation?	grouping X	document X
menu	pop up menu	client X	document X
menubar	menu bar	grouping X	document X
menuitem	menu item	grouping X	document X
menuitemcheckbox	menu item	client X	document X
menuitemradio	menu item	client X	document X
navigation	None	grouping X	document X
note	None	grouping X	document X
option	list item	grouping X	document X
presentation	no object exposed	grouping X	document X
progressbar	progress bar	client	document X
radio	radio button	radio button	document X
radiogroup	grouping	grouping X	document X
row	row	grouping X	document X
region	pane?	grouping X	document X
rowheader	row header	grouping X	document X
search	None	grouping X	document X
separator	seperator	grouping X	document X
slider	slider	slider	document X
spinbutton	spin box	grouping X	document X
status	status bar	grouping X	document X
tab	page tab	grouping X	document X
tablist	page tab list	grouping X	document X
tabpanel	property page	grouping X	document X
textbox	editable text	editable text	document X
timer	clock or timer	grouping X	document X
toolbar	tool bar	grouping X	document X
tooltip	tool tip	grouping X	document X
tree	outline	grouping X	document X
treegrid	table or outline	grouping X	document X
treeitem	outline item	grouping X	document X

References

Author: steve faulkner The Paciello Group
contact: sfaulkner@paciellogroup.com

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.