# Accessible Pagination Labels

> Gives numbered pagination links clear labels such as "Page 3" and names the pagination landmark "Posts pages", so screen reader users know what each link does.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Frontend only
- Category: [Accessibility](https://wpide.com/library/category/accessibility/)
- Tags: pagination, aria, archives
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/a11y-pagination-labels/

## Code

```php
add_filter( 'paginate_links_output', function ( $output ) {
    if ( ! $output || ! class_exists( 'WP_HTML_Tag_Processor' ) ) {
        return $output;
    }

    $tags = new WP_HTML_Tag_Processor( $output );

    while ( $tags->next_tag() ) {
        if ( ! in_array( $tags->get_tag(), array( 'A', 'SPAN' ), true ) || ! $tags->has_class( 'page-numbers' ) || $tags->get_attribute( 'aria-label' ) ) {
            continue;
        }

        if ( $tags->has_class( 'prev' ) ) {
            $tags->set_attribute( 'aria-label', 'Previous page' );
        } elseif ( $tags->has_class( 'next' ) ) {
            $tags->set_attribute( 'aria-label', 'Next page' );
        } elseif ( $tags->has_class( 'current' ) ) {
            $tags->set_attribute( 'aria-label', 'Current page' );
        } elseif ( 'A' === $tags->get_tag() ) {
            $tags->set_attribute( 'class', trim( $tags->get_attribute( 'class' ) . ' wpide-page-link' ) );
        }
    }

    // Numbered links get "Page N" from their text.
    return preg_replace_callback( '#<a([^>]*\bwpide-page-link\b[^>]*)>([^<]*\d+[^<]*)</a>#', function ( $m ) {
        $number = (int) preg_replace( '/\D+/', '', $m[2] );

        return '<a' . $m[1] . ' aria-label="' . esc_attr( 'Page ' . $number ) . '">' . $m[2] . '</a>';
    }, $tags->get_updated_html() );
} );

add_filter( 'navigation_markup_template', function ( $template, $class ) {
    if ( 'pagination' === $class ) {
        $template = str_replace( 'aria-label="%4$s"', 'aria-label="Posts pages"', $template );
    }

    return $template;
}, 10, 2 );
```

## Notes

Applies to pagination built with the core paginate_links() and the_posts_pagination() functions.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Accessible Pagination Labels" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/