Document Object Model

A programming interface that represents the structure of an HTML or XML document as a tree of objects, where each element, attribute, and piece of text becomes a node that can be programmatically accessed and manipulated. The DOM is foundational to web accessibility because assistive technologies rely on the browser's DOM representation — along with the parallel accessibility tree derived from it — to convey page structure, content, and interactive elements to users. When HTML is semantic and well-structured, the DOM enables screen readers to expose headings, landmarks, form labels, and link text. When developers manipulate the DOM dynamically (such as adding or removing content), they must ensure that accessibility information is updated accordingly, often through ARIA live regions or proper focus management.