There is ARIA, but ARIA isn't quite good enough. I also suggested a <widget> element, which allows you to define your own widgets and provide an implementation in HTML and JavaScript to be used if the browser cannot use it directly (if the widget is implemented directly (subject to user configuration), then the stuff inside the <widget> block is ignored or used in an implementation-defined way; if the widget is not implemented, then the <widget> is treated the same as a <span>, and any <script>, <noscript>, etc it contains is interpreted normally). (For selections from lists, there is already <input> anyways, and the browser can include whatever special features they want; they may be disabled in application mode if needed.)
ARIA is always improving but really the problem is that most developers either don’t use it or don’t test their usage. This is not a problem of needing new technology as much as companies skimping until they get sued.
