When is Cardinality Reported for Groups of Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

The examples on this page should be tested with a variety of screen readers to determine when (and how) the cardinality of the groups of checkboxes or radio buttons is reported.

Support Summary:

It is the shared value of the radio button's name attribute that lends cardinality to radio button groups.
There is wide support on desktop platforms for both the role=group + aria-labelledby and the fieldset + legend grouping techniques.
Because wrapping checkboxes or radio buttons in list items either does not add screen reader-exposed semantics or adds extra (likely undesirable) verbosity, the technique ought to be avoided.

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, No List

Example One Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Radio Buttons, No List

Example Two Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, Inputs in List

Example Three

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, Inputs in List (List Not Visible)

Example Three A

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, Inputs in List (List Not Visible But with ARIA Shimmed-in List Semantics)

Shimmed-in role="list" and role="listitem to re-establish list semantics for AT/browsers that lose the semantics when the list style is set to "none."

Example Three B

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Radio Buttons, Inputs in List

Example Four

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Grouping of Checkboxes Using Role Group, No List

Example Five

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Grouping of Radio Buttons Using Role Group, No List

Example Six

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset of Checkboxes Using Role Group, Inputs in List

Example Seven

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset of Checkboxes Using Role Group, Using `aria-posinset` and `aria-setsize` to Attempt to Assert Cardinality

Using aria-posinset and aria-setsize on the inputs to try to force some cardinality. This technique will throw an axe error, since neither ARIA attribute is allowed on an input and are not considered “global” ARIA attributes.

Example Seven A

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Fieldset of Radio Buttons Using Role Group, Inputs in List

Example Eight

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

Do Radio Buttons Just Get Cardinality From the Name Attribute?

Cat
Dog
Monkey
Goat

The Role of the `name` Attribute in Cardinality

The groups below test how screen readers calculate and announce control cardinality — position and total count — based on grouping method, group label, and name attribute distribution.

Fieldset: Five Radios, One Shared `name`

Strongly Agree
Agree
Neutral
Disagree
Strongly Disagree

Fieldset: Five Checkboxes, One Shared `name`

Fieldsets
ARIA Groups
Unnamed Sections
Same-name Controls
Mixed-name Controls

Fieldset: Five Custom ARIA Checkboxes, One Shared `name`

Custom Option Alpha
Custom Option Beta
Custom Option Gamma
Custom Option Delta
Custom Option Epsilon

ARIA `role=group` Section: Six Radios, Two Alternating Names

Monday (name A)
Tuesday (name B)
Wednesday (name A)
Thursday (name B)
Friday (name A)
Saturday (name B)

ARIA `role=group` Section: Six Checkboxes, Two Alternating Names

Red (name A)
Orange (name B)
Yellow (name A)
Green (name B)
Blue (name A)
Violet (name B)

ARIA `role=group` Section: Six Custom ARIA Checkboxes, Two Alternating Names

Apple (name A)
Banana (name B)
Cherry (name A)
Date (name B)
Elderberry (name A)
Fig (name B)

When is Cardinality Reported for Groups of Checkboxes and Radio Buttons

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, No List

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Radio Buttons, No List

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, Inputs in List

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, Inputs in List (List Not Visible)

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Checkboxes, Inputs in List (List Not Visible But with ARIA Shimmed-in List Semantics)

Fieldset and Legend Grouping of Radio Buttons, Inputs in List

Grouping of Checkboxes Using Role Group, No List

Grouping of Radio Buttons Using Role Group, No List

Fieldset of Checkboxes Using Role Group, Inputs in List

Fieldset of Checkboxes Using Role Group, Using aria-posinset and aria-setsize to Attempt to Assert Cardinality

Fieldset of Radio Buttons Using Role Group, Inputs in List

Do Radio Buttons Just Get Cardinality From the Name Attribute?

The Role of the name Attribute in Cardinality

Fieldset: Five Radios, One Shared name

Fieldset: Five Checkboxes, One Shared name

Fieldset: Five Custom ARIA Checkboxes, One Shared name

ARIA role=group Section: Six Radios, Two Alternating Names

ARIA role=group Section: Six Checkboxes, Two Alternating Names

ARIA role=group Section: Six Custom ARIA Checkboxes, Two Alternating Names

Plain Section, No role=group: Six Checkboxes, Two Names, No Label Association

Fieldset of Checkboxes Using Role Group, Using `aria-posinset` and `aria-setsize` to Attempt to Assert Cardinality

The Role of the `name` Attribute in Cardinality

Fieldset: Five Radios, One Shared `name`

Fieldset: Five Checkboxes, One Shared `name`

Fieldset: Five Custom ARIA Checkboxes, One Shared `name`

ARIA `role=group` Section: Six Radios, Two Alternating Names

ARIA `role=group` Section: Six Checkboxes, Two Alternating Names

ARIA `role=group` Section: Six Custom ARIA Checkboxes, Two Alternating Names

Plain Section, No `role=group`: Six Checkboxes, Two Names, No Label Association