- Success Criterion 1.3.1
- Conformance level A
Expandable Section With No Expanded/Collapsed State in Code
1.3.1 — Info and Relationships
Scenario
Setting
A customer-support live-chat widget
What’s wrong
Accordion/disclosure state visual-only: no aria-expanded (the open/closed state in code) on the trigger.
Example
<div class="heading">Shipping Address</div>Why it matters
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
How to test
Click an accordion/disclosure trigger and check aria-expanded in DevTools before and after: if the attribute doesn't exist or doesn't flip true/false, it fails.
How to fix
Add aria-expanded (the open/closed state in code) to the trigger and update it on toggle.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On a customer-support live-chat widget, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they can finish what they came here to do.
Who is affected
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text Styled to Look Like a Heading Instead of Coded as One
- Text Columns Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Markup
- Table Layout Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Code
- Clickable Div Acting as a Link Button With No Real Role
- Structural HTML Tags Used Purely for Visual Styling
- Layout-Only Table Wrongly Coded With Real Header Cells