ARIA Application Role
ARIA role="application" can be used to identify web applications or widgets within a page. When a screen reader is within an element with this role, it functions in forms mode, meaning that when keyboard keys are pressed, they are passed to the web page rather than handled by the screen reader itself. This, however, can be confusing for the user if they are unaware that they are within an application. For example, a screen reader user may press the “H” key expecting to navigate to the next heading, but within an application, this functionality would not occur. Instead, the “H” key press would be passed to the application where it could trigger a “Help” dialog. Because of this potential confusion, role="application" should generally only be used on web applications that are handling keyboard events. When possible, inform the user that the application will be controlling keyboard interaction and provide a listing of the shortcut keys and their functions.
