Figma Ships ARIA Inspector for Design Systems to Surface Screen-Reader Behavior

Design · 4 min read

Figma's ARIA Inspector integrates with the platform's component architecture to highlight how layers and interactions translate to accessibility semantics when exported to code. Designers can now tag elements with role and state suggestions, see live audits for missing landmarks, and simulate how a screen reader would announce a component. The feature is aimed squarely at teams embedding accessibility into early-phase design tokens and components.

The inspector also exports a compact accessibility manifest for each component, including required ARIA attributes, keyboard interaction expectations, and recommended live region usage. When connected to a shared library, these manifests become part of a component's change log, helping teams track when semantic behavior changes across versions. Figma says the tool leverages community patterns and will offer an API to connect to CI pipelines and accessibility-testing suites.

Design system engineers welcomed the move, noting it reduces the translation gap between design intent and implemented semantics. However, accessibility advocates cautioned that ARIA suggestions are helpful but not a substitute for testing with assistive technology users; the tool includes guidance to pair automated inspection with user research to avoid over-reliance on aria-based fixes.