---
title: "Parent element is missing required children"
date: "2024-10-25T03:50:57+00:00"
summary: "Learn how to properly use ARIA required owned elements to improve accessibility for users with visual and mobility impairments."
image:
type: "page"
url: "/web-governance/parent-element-missing-required-children"
id: "403d7798-910c-4dcc-bd66-7e0ed2d4a7b7"
---
Table of contents will be added
1.3.1 Info and Relationships
Introduction
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This document provides information about the related accessibility check:
* Parent element is missing required children.
What
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For some ARIA roles, it is specified that they can only contain certain other roles, known as _required owned elements_. Elements that use a role with required owned elements must include at least one of these defined roles and cannot contain elements with any other roles.
Why
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If the rules defined in ARIA for required owned elements are not followed, the intended accessibility features may not work correctly. This can affect users who rely on assistive technologies, as they depend on accurate ARIA code to convey the website's content and functionality properly.
Who
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### Affected users
This check affects the following users who have:
* Visual impairments: Who access the site contents with a screen reader or screen magnification software.
* Mobility impairments: Who navigate the page using speech recognition software.
### User story
Bridgit is a blind mother to a five-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy:
_"There are some things that are just tricky, and then there are things that do not work at all. One thing that often does not work is those drop-downs where you have to search for something. You know, where you type in text and then a list of suggestions pops up, and you have to choose from that list instead of just typing what you want. This happens a lot when I am booking flights. The field where I have to choose which airport I am flying from and to, sometimes I can type in the text, and the screen reader will tell me there are, say, 3 or 10 results on the list. But I cannot see or select anything from that list. I just get stuck and cannot move forward."_
Examples
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This section gives some examples of the issue.
### Example: List including listitem
* In this example, a list contains `listitem` elements, which is good because `listitem` is a required owned element for elements with the`list` role.
Item 1
Item 2
### Example: List not including listitem
* In this example, there is no `listitem` in the `list` element. This does not meet the requirements for the `list` role.
Item 1
Item 2
* Because the rules about how to use the _required owned elements_ are not followed in this code, assistive technologies such as screen readers used by blind users cannot present this list correctly to the user.
How
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This section provides instructions on how to identify and fix the issue.
### How to identify it
The Acquia Web Governance platform flags instances where elements have required owned elements but where none of the defined required owned elements are present.
### How to fix it
1. Look up the role that causes the error in the [WAI-ARIA standard](https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/).
2. Check the section on required owned elements for the relevant role and adjust your code according to the description provided there.
The _ACT rules_ section below contains a link to a complete technical explanation of these checks.
Additional resources
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### WCAG success criteria
[1.3.1 Info and Relationship](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/info-and-relationships)
### ACT rules
Related accessibility conformance testing rules.
[Aria required owned elements](https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/act/rules/bc4a75/proposed/)
### Other resources
* [WAI-ARIA standard](https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria/)
* [ARIA Authoring Practices Guide](https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/)