The HTML aria-multiline attribute
The aria-multiline="true" attribute marks a custom textbox as accepting multiple lines of text (like a <textarea>), so assistive technology can announce that Enter is expected to insert a line break rather than submit. Prefer a native <textarea>.
Overview
The aria-multiline attribute indicates whether a textbox accepts multiple lines of input.
It is a widget property: a declaration about the widget that is normally set once, rather than a state that changes as the user interacts. Because ARIA does nothing on its own, keep it accurate and update it in JavaScript if the widget's behavior does change; a stale value is worse than none. And wherever a native element already expresses the same thing (a <textarea> for multi-line input, the required or readonly attribute, a native multiple select), use that instead.
Like all ARIA, aria-multiline changes only the accessibility tree (what assistive technology perceives), never the element's behavior or appearance. The first rule of ARIA applies: if a native HTML element or attribute conveys this, use that instead, and only reach for ARIA when nothing native fits.
Syntax
<div role="textbox" aria-multiline="true" contenteditable="true"></div>Values
| Value |
|---|
| true | false |
Example
<div role="textbox" aria-multiline="true" contenteditable="true" style="border:1px solid #cbd5e1;padding:8px;border-radius:6px;"></div>Best practices
- Follow the first rule of ARIA: use a native HTML element or attribute that conveys this where one exists, rather than adding ARIA.
- Set it to match the behavior you actually implement, and change it only if that behavior changes.
- Use the matching native attribute where one exists (
required,readonly,multiple) instead of the ARIA version. - Set it only on an element whose role actually supports this property.