dt and dd outside a dl: orphaned definition list items

What an orphaned dt or dd is

<dt> and <dd> earn their meaning from the <dl> that contains them: this term goes with that description. Outside a <dl> the elements still map to term and definition roles, but the grouping that pairs them is gone, so a screen reader has no relationship to announce and the reader hears two unrelated blocks of text.

The usual cause is a component that renders a term-description pair without rendering the list around it, or a refactor that moved the wrapper and left the items behind.

What squirrel checks

One check, dlitem, at severity error. For every <dt> and <dd> it looks at the immediate parent. That parent is valid when it is a <dl>, or a <div> whose own parent is a <dl>.

• Fail with N dt/dd element(s) not inside a dl. Items quote the first 20 characters of the element’s text, as dt: "Shipping address for...", up to ten with a count of the rest.
• Pass with All dt/dd elements are inside definition lists.
• Info with No dt/dd elements found.

Exactly one wrapper level is allowed. A <dl> containing a <section> containing the <dt> is reported, which matches HTML: only <div> may wrap a group.

How to fix it

<dl>
  <dt>Shipping address</dt>
  <dd>12 Rue de Rivoli, Paris</dd>
</dl>

Wrap the orphans in a <dl>. If the pair is not really a term and a description, use a heading and a paragraph instead, which carry the right semantics without a container.

Where a component renders one pair at a time, render the <dl> in the parent and the <div> group in the component, so every item ships inside a list.

Enable / disable

Disable this rule

[rules]
disable = ["a11y/dlitem"]

Disable all Accessibility rules

[rules]
disable = ["a11y/*"]

Enable only this rule

[rules]
enable = ["a11y/dlitem"]

enable replaces the default ["*"], so this is the only rule selected. Leave disable out: a rule that matches any disable pattern is skipped even when enable names it. Only an enabled setting under a rule’s own [rule_options] table overrides both lists.

Related rules

• a11y/definition-list: the container’s own structure.
• a11y/listitem: the same orphan problem for <li>.
• a11y/list-structure: <ul> and <ol> with children that do not belong.
• a11y/aria-required-parent: the ARIA equivalent of a missing container.

Accessibility findings ship in every audit next to the SEO, performance and agent experience rules. See Website security scan with AI for how an agent works through a report.

References

• The dt element, MDN
• The dl element, HTML Standard
• Understanding SC 1.3.1 Info and Relationships, W3C

Check your site

Run squirrel audit https://example.com and open the Accessibility section of the report. Each orphan is listed with the opening words of its text. Signed-out local audits need no account and cost nothing. Signed-in audits spend credits.