diff --git a/.eslintrc b/.eslintrc
index a7119795..06dc1920 100644
--- a/.eslintrc
+++ b/.eslintrc
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
     "react/no-find-dom-node": [0],
     "react/jsx-closing-bracket-location": [0],
     "react/jsx-filename-extension": ["error", {"extensions": [".js"]}],
+    "react/forbid-prop-types": [1, {"forbid": ["any"]}],
     "react/require-default-props": 0
   }
 }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 41046df8..a42c30e7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -76,6 +76,28 @@ Modal.setAppElement(appElement);
 Modal.setAppElement('#your-app-element');
 ```
 
+### Additional Aria Attributes
+
+Use the property `aria` to pass any additional aria attributes. It accepts
+an object where the keys are the names of the attributes without the prefix
+`aria-`.
+
+Example:
+
+```js
+<Modal
+  isOpen={modalIsOpen}
+  aria={{
+    labelledby: "heading",
+    describedby: "full_description"
+  }}>
+  <h1 id="heading">H1</h1>
+  <div id="full_description">
+    <p>Description goes here.</p>
+  </div>
+</Modal>
+```
+
 ## Styles
 
 Styles are passed as an object with 2 keys, 'overlay' and 'content' like so
diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index 36d77d9e..1094f86b 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -82,6 +82,13 @@ import ReactModal from 'react-modal';
     Function that will be called to get the parent element that the modal will be attached to.
   */
   parentSelector={() => document.body}
+  /*
+    Additional aria attributes (optional).
+  */
+  aria={{
+    labelledby: "heading",
+    describedby: "full_description"
+  }}
 />
 ```
 
diff --git a/examples/basic/app.js b/examples/basic/app.js
index 96fdad35..323f4d90 100644
--- a/examples/basic/app.js
+++ b/examples/basic/app.js
@@ -69,12 +69,19 @@ class App extends Component {
         </Modal>
         <Modal ref="mymodal2"
                id="test2"
+               aria={{
+                 labelledby: "heading",
+                 describedby: "fulldescription"
+               }}
                closeTimeoutMS={150}
                contentLabel="modalB"
                isOpen={modal2}
                onAfterOpen={() => {}}
                onRequestClose={this.toggleModal_2}>
-          <p>test</p>
+          <h1 id="heading">This is the modal 2!</h1>
+          <div id="fulldescription" tabIndex="0" role="document">
+            <p>This is a description of what it does: nothing :)</p>
+          </div>
         </Modal>
       </div>
     );
diff --git a/specs/Modal.spec.js b/specs/Modal.spec.js
index 867ba41b..9a407851 100644
--- a/specs/Modal.spec.js
+++ b/specs/Modal.spec.js
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ describe('State', () => {
     unmountModal();
     expect(!isBodyWithReactModalOpenClass()).toBeTruthy();
   });
-  
+
   it('should not add classes to document.body for unopened modals', () => {
     renderModal({ isOpen: true });
     expect(isBodyWithReactModalOpenClass()).toBeTruthy();
@@ -259,6 +259,14 @@ describe('State', () => {
     expect(isBodyWithReactModalOpenClass()).toBeTruthy();
   });
 
+  it('additional aria attributes', () => {
+    const modal = renderModal({ isOpen: true, aria: { labelledby: "a" }}, 'hello');
+    expect(
+      mcontent(modal).getAttribute('aria-labelledby')
+    ).toEqual("a");
+    unmountModal();
+  });
+
   it('adding/removing aria-hidden without an appElement will try to fallback to document.body', () => {
     ariaAppHider.documentNotReadyOrSSRTesting();
     const node = document.createElement('div');
diff --git a/src/components/Modal.js b/src/components/Modal.js
index 9f8b1eee..db3077d1 100644
--- a/src/components/Modal.js
+++ b/src/components/Modal.js
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ export default class Modal extends Component {
     ariaHideApp: PropTypes.bool,
     shouldCloseOnOverlayClick: PropTypes.bool,
     parentSelector: PropTypes.func,
+    aria: PropTypes.object,
     role: PropTypes.string,
     contentLabel: PropTypes.string.isRequired
   };
diff --git a/src/components/ModalPortal.js b/src/components/ModalPortal.js
index 066317d2..2dc16163 100644
--- a/src/components/ModalPortal.js
+++ b/src/components/ModalPortal.js
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ export default class ModalPortal extends Component {
     shouldCloseOnOverlayClick: PropTypes.bool,
     role: PropTypes.string,
     contentLabel: PropTypes.string,
+    aria: PropTypes.object,
     children: PropTypes.node
   };
 
@@ -254,6 +255,11 @@ export default class ModalPortal extends Component {
       `${className} ${additional}` : className;
   }
 
+  ariaAttributes = items => Object.keys(items).reduce((acc, name) => {
+    acc[`aria-${name}`] = items[name];
+    return acc;
+  }, {});
+
   render() {
     const { className, overlayClassName, defaultStyles } = this.props;
     const contentStyles = className ? {} : defaultStyles.content;
@@ -273,7 +279,8 @@ export default class ModalPortal extends Component {
           onKeyDown={this.handleKeyDown}
           onClick={this.handleContentOnClick}
           role={this.props.role}
-          aria-label={this.props.contentLabel}>
+          aria-label={this.props.contentLabel}
+          {...this.ariaAttributes(this.props.aria || {})}>
           {this.props.children}
         </div>
       </div>