Reference targetLimited availability
The referenceTarget property of a ShadowRoot object forwards attributes such as for and aria-labelledby to elements inside a shadow DOM. You can use this to, for example, link a <label> to its <input> even if the <input> is in the shadow DOM of a web component.
Not yet supported in all major browsers — check the table and provide a fallback.
Browser support
DesktopChrome
1–151Not supported
152+Supportedsince Aug 25, 2026
Current: 155Edge
12–151Not supported
152+Supportedsince Aug 28, 2026
Current: 154Firefox
✕Not supportedup to 157
Current: 157Safari
✕Not supportedup to 27
Current: 27MobileChrome Android
18–151Not supported
152+Supportedsince Aug 25, 2026
Current: 155Firefox Android
✕Not supportedup to 157
Current: 157Safari iOS
✕Not supportedup to 27
Current: 27How to use
Not supported in Firefox, Safari, Firefox Android, Safari iOS. Use feature detection below and provide a fallback (or a polyfill) for those browsers.
Example
Full syntax and examples are on MDN: attachShadow#referencetarget.
Feature detection
JS · check before using
if ("ShadowRoot" in globalThis && "referenceTarget" in ShadowRoot.prototype) {
// ShadowRoot.referenceTarget is available
}Sub-features
Support for each part of the feature (4). The overall table above shows when the whole feature works.
| Sub-feature | Chrome | Edge | Firefox | Safari | Chrome Android | Firefox Android | Safari iOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Element.attachShadow.options_referenceTarget_parameter | 152 | 152 | ✕ | ✕ | 152 | ✕ | ✕ |
| HTMLTemplateElement.shadowRootReferenceTarget | 152 | 152 | ✕ | ✕ | 152 | ✕ | ✕ |
| ShadowRoot.referenceTarget | 152 | 152 | ✕ | ✕ | 152 | ✕ | ✕ |
| template.shadowrootreferencetarget | 152 | 152 | ✕ | ✕ | 152 | ✕ | ✕ |