diff --git a/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html b/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html
index 74143c6dac..ed8a3fb08a 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html
+++ b/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/chooser/_search_results.html
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {% load i18n wagtailadmin_tags %}
 
-<h2>
+<h2 role="alert">
     {% blocktrans count counter=pages.paginator.count %}
         There is {{ counter }} match
     {% plural %}
diff --git a/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/pages/search_results.html b/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/pages/search_results.html
index 7af404ab48..8d2edec941 100644
--- a/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/pages/search_results.html
+++ b/wagtail/admin/templates/wagtailadmin/pages/search_results.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n wagtailadmin_tags %}
 <div class="nice-padding">
     {% if pages %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
             {% blocktrans count counter=all_pages.count %}
                 There is one matching page
             {% plural %}
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
         {% paginate pages base_url=pagination_base_url %}
     {% else %}
         {% if query_string %}
-            <h2>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no pages match <em>"{{ query_string }}"</em>{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
+            <h2 role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no pages match <em>"{{ query_string }}"</em>{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
 
             {% search_other %}
         {% else %}
diff --git a/wagtail/contrib/redirects/templates/wagtailredirects/results.html b/wagtail/contrib/redirects/templates/wagtailredirects/results.html
index 33ddfed580..5c17705390 100644
--- a/wagtail/contrib/redirects/templates/wagtailredirects/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/contrib/redirects/templates/wagtailredirects/results.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if redirects %}
     {% if query_string %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=redirects.paginator.count %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/pagination_nav.html" with items=redirects linkurl="wagtailredirects:index" %}
 {% else %}
      {% if query_string %}
-         <p>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no redirects match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
+         <p role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no redirects match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
      {% else %}
         {% url 'wagtailredirects:add' as wagtailredirects_add_redirect_url %}
         <p>{% blocktrans %}No redirects have been created. Why not <a href="{{ wagtailredirects_add_redirect_url }}">add one</a>?{% endblocktrans %}</p>
diff --git a/wagtail/contrib/search_promotions/templates/wagtailsearchpromotions/results.html b/wagtail/contrib/search_promotions/templates/wagtailsearchpromotions/results.html
index 7739813c1f..0572336e55 100644
--- a/wagtail/contrib/search_promotions/templates/wagtailsearchpromotions/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/contrib/search_promotions/templates/wagtailsearchpromotions/results.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if queries %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=queries|length %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/pagination_nav.html" with items=queries linkurl="wagtailsearchpromotions:index" %}
 {% else %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-         <p>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no promoted results match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
+         <p role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no promoted results match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
     {% else %}
         {% url 'wagtailsearchpromotions:add' as wagtailsearchpromotions_add_url %}
         <p>{% blocktrans %}No promoted results have been created. Why not <a href="{{ wagtailsearchpromotions_add_url }}">add one</a>?{% endblocktrans %}</p>
diff --git a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/chooser/results.html b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/chooser/results.html
index fe6f0f7b5d..a4f8d0921b 100644
--- a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/chooser/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/chooser/results.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if documents %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=documents.paginator.count %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/ajax_pagination_nav.html" with items=documents %}
 {% else %}
     {% if documents_exist %}
-        <p>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no documents match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
+        <p role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no documents match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
     {% else %}
         <p>
         {% if collection_id %}
diff --git a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/results.html b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/results.html
index 7d62133255..ca75dbd21c 100644
--- a/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/documents/templates/wagtaildocs/documents/results.html
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 {% load i18n wagtailadmin_tags %}
 {% if documents %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=documents|length %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
             There are {{ counter }} matches
         {% endblocktrans %}
         </h2>
-        
+
         {% search_other %}
     {% endif %}
 
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/pagination_nav.html" with items=documents %}
 {% else %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-         <h2>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no documents match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
-         
+         <h2 role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no documents match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
+
          {% search_other %}
     {% else %}
         {% url 'wagtaildocs:add_multiple' as wagtaildocs_add_document_url %}
diff --git a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/chooser/results.html b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/chooser/results.html
index efd7be918c..136c239e6f 100644
--- a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/chooser/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/chooser/results.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if images %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=images.paginator.count %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
diff --git a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/results.html b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/results.html
index e631755966..4e4a11cfa7 100644
--- a/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/images/templates/wagtailimages/images/results.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if images %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=images.paginator.count %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
 {% else %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no images match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no images match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
 
         {% search_other %}
     {% else %}
diff --git a/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/chooser/results.html b/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/chooser/results.html
index 954a6186c3..9a27025143 100644
--- a/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/chooser/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/chooser/results.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if items %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=items.paginator.count %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/ajax_pagination_nav.html" with items=items %}
 {% else %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-         <p>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no snippets match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
+         <p role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no snippets match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
     {% else %}
         {% url 'wagtailsnippets:add' model_opts.app_label model_opts.model_name as wagtailsnippets_create_snippet_url %}
         <p>{% blocktrans with snippet_type_name=model_opts.verbose_name %}You haven't created any {{ snippet_type_name }} snippets. Why not <a href="{{ wagtailsnippets_create_snippet_url }}" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">create one now</a>?{% endblocktrans %}</p>
diff --git a/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/snippets/results.html b/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/snippets/results.html
index 58f3f8719e..b8689a0a70 100644
--- a/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/snippets/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/snippets/templates/wagtailsnippets/snippets/results.html
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {% load i18n %}
 {% if items %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=items.paginator.count %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/pagination_nav.html" with items=items linkurl=wagtailsnippets_list_url %}
 {% else %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-         <p>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no snippets match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
+         <p role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no snippets match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
     {% else %}
         {% url 'wagtailsnippets:add' model_opts.app_label model_opts.model_name as wagtailsnippets_create_url %}
         <p class="no-results-message">{% blocktrans with snippet_type_name_plural=model_opts.verbose_name_plural %}No {{ snippet_type_name_plural }} have been created. Why not <a href="{{ wagtailsnippets_create_url }}">add one</a>?{% endblocktrans %}</p>
diff --git a/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/groups/results.html b/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/groups/results.html
index 839f212c97..e729990754 100644
--- a/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/groups/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/groups/results.html
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/pagination_nav.html" with items=page_obj linkurl="wagtailusers_groups:index" %}
 {% elif is_searching %}
-    <p>{% blocktrans with query=search_form.q.value %}Sorry, no groups match "{{ query }}"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
+    <p role="alert">{% blocktrans with query=search_form.q.value %}Sorry, no groups match "{{ query }}"{% endblocktrans %}</p>
 {% else %}
     {% url 'wagtailusers_groups:add' as wagtailusers_create_group_url %}
     <p>{% blocktrans %}There are no groups configured. Why not <a href="{{ wagtailusers_create_group_url }}">add some</a>?{% endblocktrans %}</p>
diff --git a/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/users/results.html b/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/users/results.html
index 21bfd3fc9a..1a6b2394e8 100644
--- a/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/users/results.html
+++ b/wagtail/users/templates/wagtailusers/users/results.html
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 {% load i18n wagtailadmin_tags %}
 {% if users %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-        <h2>
+        <h2 role="alert">
         {% blocktrans count counter=users|length %}
             There is {{ counter }} match
         {% plural %}
             There are {{ counter }} matches
         {% endblocktrans %}
         </h2>
-        
+
         {% search_other %}
     {% endif %}
 
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@
     {% include "wagtailadmin/shared/pagination_nav.html" with items=users linkurl="wagtailusers_users:index" %}
 {% else %}
     {% if is_searching %}
-         <h2>{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no users match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
-         
+         <h2 role="alert">{% blocktrans %}Sorry, no users match "<em>{{ query_string }}</em>"{% endblocktrans %}</h2>
+
          {% search_other %}
     {% else %}
         {% url 'wagtailusers_create' as wagtailusers_create_url %}