• Success Criterion 2.4.4
  • Conformance level A

ARIA Label That Overrides a Link’s Visible Text Incorrectly

2.4.4 — Link Purpose (In Context)

Scenario

Setting

An email client's compose window

What’s wrong

aria-label overriding visible text with something unrelated (purpose obscured — also 2.5.3).

Example 

<button aria-label="Save draft">Send</button>

Why it matters

A screen reader user hears Save draft and may believe their email wasn't sent, while sighted users see Send and click confidently.

How to test

Inspect the aria-label attribute in DevTools versus the visible link text: if the label describes something entirely different from what's shown, it fails.

How to fix

An aria-label overrides visible text for assistive tech; never let it contradict what's on screen.

<button>Send</button>

Outcome

A user hears Send announced and sends the email with full confidence it went out.

Who is affected

Screen reader users get a completely different, incorrect purpose announced than what's visibly labeled.

Learn more

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