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Accessibility
What does name, role, value mean for a website?
Name, role, and value are the three pieces of information every control element on a website must report to assistive tools. The name says what the element is for ("Search"), the role says what it is (button, link, checkbox), the value says what state it's in (checked or empty). If one of these is missing, a blind visitor only hears "element" — and can't do anything with that. WCAG criterion 4.1.2 governs this.
Three pieces of information make an element operable
A screen reader doesn't see pixels — it reads out what the source code reports about each element. For a properly built button, it says: "Search, button". The visitor knows instantly what happens when they press Enter. For a checkbox, the value is added: "Subscribe to newsletter, checkbox, not checked". Problems arise with custom-built control elements: a clickable icon with no name gets announced as "graphic", a dropdown menu assembled with scripts and no role as meaningless text. The sighted visitor notices none of this — the element looks the same as always. For users of screen readers, voice control, and specialised keyboards, it's invisible or unusable. Robustness means: the technology behind it carries every assistive tool, not just the screen.
How the audit service checks name, role, and value
Our measurement engine checks this criterion largely automatically with axe-core in a real browser. Among other things, it checks: does every button and link carry an accessible name, are the additional attributes used for assistive tools valid and correctly combined, do custom-assigned roles match the rules. To rule out random findings, the check runs twice with an 800-millisecond gap — only findings that show up in both runs count. The label count from criterion 3.3.2 also feeds in: an input field with no linked label also has no accessible name and therefore also counts as a violation of 4.1.2. The report names every finding with the element and evidence.
- Ask your agency to use the built-in building blocks for control elements — real buttons and links come with name, role, and value automatically.
- Give every icon-only button — magnifying glass, menu, cart — an invisible but technically stored name.
- Check custom-built elements like dropdown menus and toggles especially critically — that's where role and state are missing most often.
- Run an automated check after every major rebuild, since a single new script can silence many elements at once.
FAQ
What is the accessible name of an element?
The accessible name is the label an assistive tool announces for an element — for a button, usually its visible text, for an icon button, a technically stored text such as "Open search". If it's missing, the screen reader only announces "button", and the visitor has to guess. Voice control also needs the name to hit an element by voice command.
Why are custom-built control elements a risk?
The web's built-in building blocks — real buttons, links, selection fields — automatically report name, role, and value to assistive tools. Anyone who instead assembles a control element from clickable text and scripts has to add all three pieces of information by hand. This is often forgotten: the element looks normal, but stays a meaningless piece of text for screen readers.
How does the audit service check the Name, Role, Value criterion?
The measurement engine uses axe-core in a real browser to check whether buttons and links carry accessible names, whether the additional attributes for assistive tools are valid, and whether assigned roles match the rules. The check runs twice with an 800-millisecond gap; only findings confirmed both times count. Input fields with no linked label also count as a violation.