diff --git a/src/browser/interactive.zig b/src/browser/interactive.zig
index 13c354431..e31f8ac67 100644
--- a/src/browser/interactive.zig
+++ b/src/browser/interactive.zig
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ pub fn classifyInteractivity(
     }
 
     // 2. ARIA interactive role
-    if (el.getAttributeSafe(comptime .wrap("role"))) |role| {
+    if (explicitRole(el)) |role| {
         if (isInteractiveRole(role)) return .aria;
     }
 
@@ -367,9 +367,15 @@ pub fn isContentRole(role: []const u8) bool {
     return content_roles.has(lowered);
 }
 
+// ARIA `role` is a space-separated fallback list; the first token wins.
+pub fn explicitRole(el: *Element) ?[]const u8 {
+    const attr = el.getAttributeSafe(comptime .wrap("role")) orelse return null;
+    var it = std.mem.tokenizeAny(u8, attr, " \t\n\r");
+    return it.next();
+}
+
 fn getRole(el: *Element) ?[]const u8 {
-    // Explicit role attribute takes precedence
-    if (el.getAttributeSafe(comptime .wrap("role"))) |role| return role;
+    if (explicitRole(el)) |role| return role;
 
     // Implicit role from tag
     return switch (el.getTag()) {
@@ -563,6 +569,23 @@ test "browser.interactive: aria role" {
     try testing.expectEqual(InteractivityType.aria, elements[0].interactivity_type);
 }
 
+test "browser.interactive: aria role token list" {
+    const elements = try testInteractive(
+        \\<div role="switch checkbox">Fallback</div>
+        \\<div role=" button ">Padded</div>
+        \\<div role="">Empty</div>
+        \\<button role="  ">Blank</button>
+    );
+    defer testing.test_session.closeAllPages();
+    try testing.expectEqual(3, elements.len);
+    try testing.expectEqual("switch", elements[0].role.?);
+    try testing.expectEqual(InteractivityType.aria, elements[0].interactivity_type);
+    try testing.expectEqual("button", elements[1].role.?);
+    try testing.expectEqual(InteractivityType.aria, elements[1].interactivity_type);
+    try testing.expectEqual("button", elements[2].tag_name);
+    try testing.expectEqual("button", elements[2].role.?);
+}
+
 test "browser.interactive: contenteditable" {
     const elements = try testInteractive("<div contenteditable=\"true\">Edit me</div>");
     defer testing.test_session.closeAllPages();
diff --git a/src/cdp/AXNode.zig b/src/cdp/AXNode.zig
index e3fa42bfa..8e6bd4142 100644
--- a/src/cdp/AXNode.zig
+++ b/src/cdp/AXNode.zig
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ const lp = @import("lightpanda");
 const Frame = @import("../browser/Frame.zig");
 const DOMNode = @import("../browser/webapi/Node.zig");
 const Label = @import("../browser/webapi/element/html/Label.zig");
+const interactive = @import("../browser/interactive.zig");
 
 const Node = @import("Node.zig");
 
@@ -915,13 +916,7 @@ role_attr: ?[]const u8,
 pub fn fromNode(dom: *DOMNode) AXNode {
     return .{
         .dom = dom,
-        .role_attr = blk: {
-            if (dom.is(DOMNode.Element.Html) == null) {
-                break :blk null;
-            }
-            const elt = dom.as(DOMNode.Element);
-            break :blk elt.getAttributeSafe(comptime .wrap("role"));
-        },
+        .role_attr = if (dom.is(DOMNode.Element.Html) != null) interactive.explicitRole(dom.as(DOMNode.Element)) else null,
     };
 }
 
@@ -1429,7 +1424,6 @@ fn isIgnore(self: AXNode, frame: *Frame, cache: *DOMNode.Element.VisibilityCache
 
 pub fn getRole(self: AXNode) ![]const u8 {
     if (self.role_attr) |role_value| {
-        // TODO the role can have multiple comma separated values.
         return role_value;
     }
 
@@ -1790,6 +1784,24 @@ test "AXNode: Writer query filters by role" {
     try testing.expectEqual("Visible", name_val);
 }
 
+test "AXNode: role attribute token list" {
+    var page = try testing.pageTest("cdp/accname.html", .{});
+    defer page.close();
+    const frame = page.frame().?;
+
+    const div = try frame.window._document.createElement("div", null, frame);
+    try Frame.parse.htmlAsChildren(frame, div.asNode(),
+        \\<div role="switch checkbox"></div><div role=" heading "></div><h1 role=""></h1>
+    );
+
+    var child = div.asNode().firstChild().?;
+    try testing.expectEqual("switch", try AXNode.fromNode(child).getRole());
+    child = child.nextSibling().?;
+    try testing.expectEqual("heading", try AXNode.fromNode(child).getRole());
+    child = child.nextSibling().?;
+    try testing.expectEqual("heading", try AXNode.fromNode(child).getRole());
+}
+
 test "AXNode: writer maps password input to textbox" {
     var registry = Node.Registry.init(testing.allocator);
     defer registry.deinit();