What is WAI-ARIA and its purpose for programmers to implement in their code.

WAI-ARIA (Web Accessibility Initiative - Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is an essential set of technical specifications that can make web content and applications more accessible to people with disabilities. This YouTube video covers the basics of WAI-ARIA, its purpose, and the benefits it can offer programmers.

WAI-ARIA provides additional semantics and behaviors to HTML and other web technologies, allowing programmers to add attributes and properties to HTML elements to provide additional information about their role, state, and properties. It helps assistive technologies like screen readers interpret and interact with web content and applications.

This video explains how WAI-ARIA is particularly useful for creating complex user interface controls and dynamic content, which cannot be expressed with traditional HTML elements alone. It also covers the key features of WAI-ARIA, such as roles, states, and properties. Roles define the type of widget or interface control an element represents, states describe the current state of the widget or control, and properties provide additional information about the widget or control.

The video emphasizes why programmers should use WAI-ARIA, and how it can help create web content and applications that are accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. By following the WAI-ARIA guidelines and adding ARIA attributes and properties to their HTML code, programmers can significantly improve the accessibility of their web content and applications.