Writing & StyleStyle guide

Writing Accessible Dialog Titles

Writing Accessible Dialog Titles replaces the already-owned progress-indicator topic with a distinct APG-supported content pattern for naming modal dialogs.

Quick answer

Give a modal dialog a concise title that states its task or purpose; when that visible title supplies the accessible name, its wording should make sense on its own.

Key details

Core IssueW3C APG requires a dialog to have an accessible name and describes using the visible dialog title through aria-labelledby when such a title is present.
Registerweb accessibility and interface content

Important caveats

Scope Boundary

This page covers dialog-title wording; focus management, aria-modal, keyboard behavior, and accessible-name implementation are separate technical concerns.

Further guidance

Content

Write a concise visible title that identifies the dialog’s task or purpose so the same wording can serve as its accessible name.

Purpose

A clear dialog title gives users immediate context for the modal task and distinguishes it from the underlying page.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. Dialog (Modal) Pattern — WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices Guide (opens in a new tab)World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) · W3C APG guidance for accessible dialog names, typically from a visible dialog title.

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