diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/markdown.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/markdown.js
index 196118313d..775b074d67 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/markdown.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/markdown.js
@@ -297,9 +297,9 @@ run_test('marked', () => {
         {input: 'mmm...:burrito:s',
          expected: '<p>mmm...<img alt=":burrito:" class="emoji" src="/static/generated/emoji/images/emoji/burrito.png" title="burrito">s</p>'},
         {input: 'This is an :poop: message',
-         expected: '<p>This is an <span class="emoji emoji-1f4a9" title="poop">:poop:</span> message</p>'},
+         expected: '<p>This is an <span aria-label="poop" class="emoji emoji-1f4a9" role="img" title="poop">:poop:</span> message</p>'},
         {input: "\ud83d\udca9",
-         expected: '<p><span class="emoji emoji-1f4a9" title="poop">:poop:</span></p>'},
+         expected: '<p><span aria-label="poop" class="emoji emoji-1f4a9" role="img" title="poop">:poop:</span></p>'},
         {input: '\u{1f6b2}',
          expected: '<p>\u{1f6b2}</p>' },
         // Test only those realm filters which don't return True for
@@ -349,7 +349,7 @@ run_test('marked', () => {
         {input: ':)',
          expected: '<p>:)</p>'},
         {input: ':)',
-         expected: '<p><span class="emoji emoji-1f642" title="slight smile">:slight_smile:</span></p>',
+         expected: '<p><span aria-label="slight smile" class="emoji emoji-1f642" role="img" title="slight smile">:slight_smile:</span></p>',
          translate_emoticons: true},
         // Test HTML Escape in Custom Zulip Rules
         {input: '@**<h1>The Rogue One</h1>**',
diff --git a/static/js/markdown.js b/static/js/markdown.js
index 298954b843..25239e83be 100644
--- a/static/js/markdown.js
+++ b/static/js/markdown.js
@@ -141,8 +141,9 @@ exports.is_status_message = function (raw_content, content) {
 };
 
 function make_emoji_span(codepoint, title, alt_text) {
-    return '<span class="emoji emoji-' + codepoint + '"' +
-           ' title="' + title + '">' + alt_text +
+    return '<span aria-label="' + title + '"' +
+           ' class="emoji emoji-' + codepoint + '"' +
+           ' role="img" title="' + title + '">' + alt_text +
            '</span>';
 }
 
diff --git a/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py b/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py
index 5c90f8cc0a..91f6bf588a 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/bugdown/__init__.py
@@ -1091,6 +1091,8 @@ def make_emoji(codepoint: str, display_string: str) -> Element:
     span = markdown.util.etree.Element('span')
     span.set('class', 'emoji emoji-%s' % (codepoint,))
     span.set('title', title)
+    span.set('role', 'img')
+    span.set('aria-label', title)
     span.text = display_string
     return span
 
diff --git a/zerver/tests/fixtures/markdown_test_cases.json b/zerver/tests/fixtures/markdown_test_cases.json
index 5fc0b9e6f5..48fc50e45b 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/fixtures/markdown_test_cases.json
+++ b/zerver/tests/fixtures/markdown_test_cases.json
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@
     {
       "name": "many_emoji",
       "input":  "test :smile: again :poop:\n:) foo:)bar x::y::z :wasted waste: :fakeemojithisshouldnotrender:",
-      "expected_output": "<p>test <span class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span> again <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><br>\n:) foo:)bar x::y::z :wasted waste: :fakeemojithisshouldnotrender:</p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p>test <span aria-label=\"smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" role=\"img\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span> again <span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><br>\n:) foo:)bar x::y::z :wasted waste: :fakeemojithisshouldnotrender:</p>",
       "text_content": "test \u263A again \ud83d\udca9\n:) foo:)bar x::y::z :wasted waste: :fakeemojithisshouldnotrender:"
     },
     {
@@ -360,14 +360,14 @@
     {
       "name": "translate_emoticons_enabled",
       "input": ":)",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span></p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span></p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\ude42",
       "translate_emoticons": true
     },
     {
       "name": "translate_emoticons",
       "input":  ":) foo :( bar <3 with space : ) real emoji :slight_smile:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span> foo <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f641\" title=\"frown\">:frown:</span> bar <span class=\"emoji emoji-2764\" title=\"heart\">:heart:</span> with space : ) real emoji <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span></p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span> foo <span aria-label=\"frown\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f641\" role=\"img\" title=\"frown\">:frown:</span> bar <span aria-label=\"heart\" class=\"emoji emoji-2764\" role=\"img\" title=\"heart\">:heart:</span> with space : ) real emoji <span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span></p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\ude42 foo \ud83d\ude41 bar \u2764 with space : ) real emoji \ud83d\ude42",
       "translate_emoticons": true
     },
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@
     {
       "name": "translate_emoticons_newline",
       "input":  ":) test\n:) test",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span> test<br>\n<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span> test</p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span> test<br>\n<span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span> test</p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\ude42 test\n\ud83d\ude42 test",
       "translate_emoticons": true
     },
@@ -395,14 +395,14 @@
     {
       "name": "translate_emoticons_at_sentence_end",
       "input": "Translate this :).",
-      "expected_output": "<p>Translate this <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span>.</p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p>Translate this <span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span>.</p>",
       "text_content": "Translate this \ud83d\ude42.",
       "translate_emoticons": true
     },
     {
       "name": "translate_emoticons_between_symbols",
       "input": "Translate this !:)?",
-      "expected_output": "<p>Translate this !<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span>?</p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p>Translate this !<span aria-label=\"slight smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f642\" role=\"img\" title=\"slight smile\">:slight_smile:</span>?</p>",
       "marked_expected_output": "<p>Translate this !:)?</p>",
       "text_content": "Translate this !\ud83d\ude42?",
       "translate_emoticons": true
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@
     {
       "name": "random_emoji_1",
       "input": ":airplane:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-2708\" title=\"airplane\">:airplane:</span></p>"
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"airplane\" class=\"emoji emoji-2708\" role=\"img\" title=\"airplane\">:airplane:</span></p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "zulip_emoji",
@@ -421,18 +421,18 @@
     {
       "name": "random_emoji_2",
       "input": ":poop:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span></p>"
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span></p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "emojis_without_space",
       "input": ":cat:hello:dog::rabbit:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f408\" title=\"cat\">:cat:</span>hello<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f415\" title=\"dog\">:dog:</span><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f407\" title=\"rabbit\">:rabbit:</span></p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"cat\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f408\" role=\"img\" title=\"cat\">:cat:</span>hello<span aria-label=\"dog\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f415\" role=\"img\" title=\"dog\">:dog:</span><span aria-label=\"rabbit\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f407\" role=\"img\" title=\"rabbit\">:rabbit:</span></p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\udc08hello\ud83d\udc15\ud83d\udc07"
     },
     {
       "name": "emojis_newline",
       "input": ":cat:\n:dog:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f408\" title=\"cat\">:cat:</span><br>\n<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f415\" title=\"dog\">:dog:</span></p>",
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"cat\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f408\" role=\"img\" title=\"cat\">:cat:</span><br>\n<span aria-label=\"dog\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f415\" role=\"img\" title=\"dog\">:dog:</span></p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\udc08\n\ud83d\udc15"
     },
     {
@@ -444,67 +444,67 @@
     {
       "name": "unicode_emoji",
       "input": "\ud83d\udca9",
-      "expected_output":"<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span></p>",
+      "expected_output":"<p><span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span></p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\udca9"
     },
     {
       "name": "two_unicode_emoji",
       "input": "\ud83d\udca9\ud83d\udca9",
-      "expected_output":"<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><\/p>",
+      "expected_output":"<p><span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><\/p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\udca9\ud83d\udca9"
     },
     {
       "name": "two_unicode_emoji_separated_by_text",
       "input": "\ud83d\udca9 word \ud83d\udca9",
-      "expected_output":"<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span> word <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><\/p>",
+      "expected_output":"<p><span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span> word <span aria-label=\"poop\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f4a9\" role=\"img\" title=\"poop\">:poop:</span><\/p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\udca9 word \ud83d\udca9"
     },
     {
       "name": "miscellaneous_symbols_and_pictographs",
       "input": "Merry Christmas!!\ud83c\udf84",
-      "expected_output":"<p>Merry Christmas!!<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f384\" title=\"holiday tree\">:holiday_tree:</span><\/p>",
+      "expected_output":"<p>Merry Christmas!!<span aria-label=\"holiday tree\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f384\" role=\"img\" title=\"holiday tree\">:holiday_tree:</span><\/p>",
       "text_content": "Merry Christmas!!\ud83c\udf84"
     },
     {
       "name": "miscellaneous_and_dingbats_emoji",
       "input": "\u2693\u2797",
-      "expected_output":"<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-2693\" title=\"anchor\">:anchor:</span><span class=\"emoji emoji-2797\" title=\"division\">:division:</span><\/p>"
+      "expected_output":"<p><span aria-label=\"anchor\" class=\"emoji emoji-2693\" role=\"img\" title=\"anchor\">:anchor:</span><span aria-label=\"division\" class=\"emoji emoji-2797\" role=\"img\" title=\"division\">:division:</span><\/p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "supplemental_symbols_and_pictographs",
       "input": "I am a robot \ud83e\udd16.",
-      "expected_output":"<p>I am a robot <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f916\" title=\"robot\">:robot:</span>.<\/p>"
+      "expected_output":"<p>I am a robot <span aria-label=\"robot\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f916\" role=\"img\" title=\"robot\">:robot:</span>.<\/p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "miscellaneous_symbols_and_arrows",
       "input": "Black upward arrow \u2b06",
-      "expected_output":"<p>Black upward arrow <span class=\"emoji emoji-2b06\" title=\"up\">:up:</span><\/p>"
+      "expected_output":"<p>Black upward arrow <span aria-label=\"up\" class=\"emoji emoji-2b06\" role=\"img\" title=\"up\">:up:</span><\/p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "unicode_emoji_without_space",
       "input": "Extra\ud83d\udc7dTerrestrial",
-      "expected_output":"<p>Extra<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f47d\" title=\"alien\">:alien:</span>Terrestrial<\/p>"
+      "expected_output":"<p>Extra<span aria-label=\"alien\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f47d\" role=\"img\" title=\"alien\">:alien:</span>Terrestrial<\/p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "unicode_emojis_new_line",
       "input": "\ud83d\udc7d\n\ud83d\udc7d",
-      "expected_output":"<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f47d\" title=\"alien\">:alien:</span><br>\n<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f47d\" title=\"alien\">:alien:</span></p>",
+      "expected_output":"<p><span aria-label=\"alien\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f47d\" role=\"img\" title=\"alien\">:alien:</span><br>\n<span aria-label=\"alien\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f47d\" role=\"img\" title=\"alien\">:alien:</span></p>",
       "text_content": "\ud83d\udc7d\n\ud83d\udc7d"
     },
     {
       "name": "emoji_alongside_punctuation",
       "input": ":smile:, :smile:; :smile:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span>, <span class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span>; <span class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span></p>"
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" role=\"img\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span>, <span aria-label=\"smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" role=\"img\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span>; <span aria-label=\"smile\" class=\"emoji emoji-263a\" role=\"img\" title=\"smile\">:smile:</span></p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "new_emoji_test",
       "input": ":avocado:, :kiwi:, :selfie:, :gear:, :comet:, :gold:",
-      "expected_output": "<p><span class=\"emoji emoji-1f951\" title=\"avocado\">:avocado:</span>, <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f95d\" title=\"kiwi\">:kiwi:</span>, <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f933\" title=\"selfie\">:selfie:</span>, <span class=\"emoji emoji-2699\" title=\"gear\">:gear:</span>, <span class=\"emoji emoji-2604\" title=\"comet\">:comet:</span>, <span class=\"emoji emoji-1f947\" title=\"gold\">:gold:</span></p>"
+      "expected_output": "<p><span aria-label=\"avocado\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f951\" role=\"img\" title=\"avocado\">:avocado:</span>, <span aria-label=\"kiwi\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f95d\" role=\"img\" title=\"kiwi\">:kiwi:</span>, <span aria-label=\"selfie\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f933\" role=\"img\" title=\"selfie\">:selfie:</span>, <span aria-label=\"gear\" class=\"emoji emoji-2699\" role=\"img\" title=\"gear\">:gear:</span>, <span aria-label=\"comet\" class=\"emoji emoji-2604\" role=\"img\" title=\"comet\">:comet:</span>, <span aria-label=\"gold\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f947\" role=\"img\" title=\"gold\">:gold:</span></p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "emoji_pipeline_newline",
       "input": "The winner is:\nsmiley:smiley:",
-      "expected_output": "<p>The winner is:<br>\nsmiley<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f603\" title=\"smiley\">:smiley:</span></p>"
+      "expected_output": "<p>The winner is:<br>\nsmiley<span aria-label=\"smiley\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f603\" role=\"img\" title=\"smiley\">:smiley:</span></p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "emoji_pipeline_emphasis",
@@ -514,7 +514,7 @@
     {
       "name": "emoji_pipeline_link",
       "input": "Visit https:smiley://google.com.",
-      "expected_output": "<p>Visit https<span class=\"emoji emoji-1f603\" title=\"smiley\">:smiley:</span>//google.com.</p>"
+      "expected_output": "<p>Visit https<span aria-label=\"smiley\" class=\"emoji emoji-1f603\" role=\"img\" title=\"smiley\">:smiley:</span>//google.com.</p>"
     },
     {
       "name": "skin_tones_are_banned",
diff --git a/zerver/tests/test_bugdown.py b/zerver/tests/test_bugdown.py
index 39e618bb71..9ea0f76a20 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/test_bugdown.py
+++ b/zerver/tests/test_bugdown.py
@@ -551,7 +551,7 @@ class BugdownTest(ZulipTestCase):
         media_tweet_html = ('<a href="http://t.co/xo7pAhK6n3" target="_blank" title="http://t.co/xo7pAhK6n3">'
                             'http://twitter.com/NEVNBoston/status/421654515616849920/photo/1</a>')
 
-        emoji_in_tweet_html = """Zulip is <span class="emoji emoji-1f4af" title="100">:100:</span>% open-source!"""
+        emoji_in_tweet_html = """Zulip is <span aria-label=\"100\" class="emoji emoji-1f4af" role=\"img\" title="100">:100:</span>% open-source!"""
 
         def make_inline_twitter_preview(url: str, tweet_html: str, image_html: str='') -> str:
             ## As of right now, all previews are mocked to be the exact same tweet
@@ -698,11 +698,11 @@ class BugdownTest(ZulipTestCase):
     def test_unicode_emoji(self) -> None:
         msg = u'\u2615'  # ☕
         converted = bugdown_convert(msg)
-        self.assertEqual(converted, u'<p><span class="emoji emoji-2615" title="coffee">:coffee:</span></p>')
+        self.assertEqual(converted, u'<p><span aria-label=\"coffee\" class="emoji emoji-2615" role=\"img\" title="coffee">:coffee:</span></p>')
 
         msg = u'\u2615\u2615'  # ☕☕
         converted = bugdown_convert(msg)
-        self.assertEqual(converted, u'<p><span class="emoji emoji-2615" title="coffee">:coffee:</span><span class="emoji emoji-2615" title="coffee">:coffee:</span></p>')
+        self.assertEqual(converted, u'<p><span aria-label=\"coffee\" class="emoji emoji-2615" role=\"img\" title="coffee">:coffee:</span><span aria-label=\"coffee\" class="emoji emoji-2615" role=\"img\" title="coffee">:coffee:</span></p>')
 
     def test_no_translate_emoticons_if_off(self) -> None:
         user_profile = self.example_user('othello')
diff --git a/zerver/tests/test_notifications.py b/zerver/tests/test_notifications.py
index d2206f6149..6c92d3ef87 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/test_notifications.py
+++ b/zerver/tests/test_notifications.py
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ class TestMissedMessages(ZulipTestCase):
 
     def test_fix_emoji(self) -> None:
         # An emoji.
-        test_data = '<p>See <span class="emoji emoji-26c8" title="cloud with lightning and rain">' + \
+        test_data = '<p>See <span aria-label="cloud with lightning and rain" class="emoji emoji-26c8" role="img" title="cloud with lightning and rain">' + \
                     ':cloud_with_lightning_and_rain:</span>.</p>'
         actual_output = fix_emojis(test_data, "http://example.com", "google")
         expected_output = '<p>See <img alt=":cloud_with_lightning_and_rain:" src="http://example.com/static/generated/emoji/images-google-64/26c8.png" ' + \