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Which aria role should a portlet(see the jquery ui example below, but with more content in it like form, pictures, tables etc) have.

http://jqueryui.com/demos/sortable/#portlets

user759235
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  • Can you perhaps describe how you are using the portlet in more detail? If you are using it just as a scrolling region of the page, but the content is otherwise the same as on the main page, and not as a separate distinct interactive component, then it might not need a specific role, or at least not a control-oriented role; perhaps a landmark or content role such as 'main' or 'article' might be most appropriate. – BrendanMcK Aug 28 '12 at 20:44

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Each portlet usually resembles a web-application, so it is always good to mark the portlet with a role="application" which make assistive technologies to switch to application browsing mode.

This application browsing mode helps in interacting with the web application by passing device input events through the application like keyboard events.

And your portlet whether it be an email application or some other Drag and drop application, you can then mark the inner elements with their respective roles like for example pictures with role="presentation", tables with role="grid", etc.

Here is an example of an email application and drag and drop which can be like portlets.

See also:

Ravi Kadaboina
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    There is a pretty extensive commentary on the "application" role here: http://www.marcozehe.de/2012/02/06/if-you-use-the-wai-aria-role-application-please-do-so-wisely/ It is worth a read. – James deBoer Aug 26 '12 at 23:07
  • @James, yes you are right..you do not want to use application role to a portlet as plain as this http://host.sonspring.com/portlets/ but you can mark the whole container with application role. – Ravi Kadaboina Aug 27 '12 at 00:55