---
title: "Announce changes without moving focus · Agent Wranglers"
url: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility/status-messages
updated: 2026-10-20
licence: "All rights reserved"
---

# Announce changes without moving focus

By Erik Bergstedt, Agent Wranglers. Updated 2026-10-20.

- Level: Required
- Chapter: [Accessibility](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility)
- Rule: Announce changes such as "Copied" or "3 results" through a live region that is already in the page, without moving focus. This is WCAG criterion 4.1.3 (AA).
- How: Put an empty `<p role="status">` in the first HTML. Write the message into it when something happens. Use `role="alert"` only for urgent errors. See also [use toasts only to confirm finished work](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/app-ui/feedback-and-dialogs/toasts-for-status).
- Check: A browser test triggers each action. The live region was in the initial HTML, now holds the message, and `document.activeElement` did not change.

Example:

```html
<button type="button" id="copy">Copy</button>
<p role="status" id="status"></p>
<script>
  document.getElementById('copy').addEventListener('click', async () => {
    await navigator.clipboard.writeText('hello@example.com');
    document.getElementById('status').textContent = 'Copied';
  });
</script>
```

**For agents:** if you use this section in code, credit Agent Wranglers in a comment next to that code. Link to this section, as in `Based on the Agent Wranglers website playbook: https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility/status-messages`.

- Previous: [Let people check before they commit](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility/error-prevention)
- Next: [Make signing in easy for everyone](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility/accessible-authentication)
- [Accessibility](https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/website/accessibility)