- Success Criterion 1.3.1
- Conformance level A
Custom Toggle Control Built With No Role or State at All
1.3.1 — Info and Relationships
Scenario
Setting
A dating app's profile setup
What’s wrong
Custom checkboxes/toggles as styled divs with no role/state (also 4.1.2).
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
Focus a custom checkbox/toggle with a screen reader: it should announce role checkbox/switch and its checked state — a styled div with no role/aria-checked fails.
How to fix
Build custom checkboxes/toggles with the proper role and aria-checked (the on/off state in code) state.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On a dating app's profile setup, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they get the same result as anyone else here.
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