All WCAG criteria
WCAG 4.1.3 · RobustLevel AA

4.1.3Status Messages

Status messages can be programmatically determined through role or properties so assistive tech can present them without focus change.

Common failures

Patterns that fail this criterion.

  • 01Cart-update toast "Item added" not announced by screen readers
  • 02Form error appearing without aria-live region
  • 03Search-results count never spoken when results update
How to test

Testing approach: manual.

Manual — trigger status events with a screen reader active; confirm announcement.

How to fix

Remediation steps.

  1. 1

    Use aria-live

    `<div aria-live="polite">` for non-urgent updates. `aria-live="assertive"` for urgent ones (errors).

  2. 2

    Or use role="status" / role="alert"

    Shortcuts for the most common cases. `role="status"` = polite. `role="alert"` = assertive.

  3. 3

    Test the live region exists before content changes

    Many screen readers do not announce content added to a NEW aria-live region.

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Related criteria

Often appears with…

WCAG 4.1.2 · Level A

Name, Role, Value

All 50 WCAG 2.1 Level A + AA success criteria explained.

View the full checklist