Contact Us | RIAM

Junior RIAM: Apply | RIAM

IT Services | RIAM

Royal Irish Academy of Music | RIAM

Spotlight Awards | RIAM

Exam Syllabi | RIAM

College Calendar | RIAM

About | RIAM

Exam Supports | RIAM

Junior RIAM | RIAM

People using screen readers are not able to see the layout of a form. To make forms
accessible, they must define explicit text labels for each form control. 

Usually the best solution is to use a `<label>` element. The label may be linked to 
by the form control:

```html
<label for="name">Full name</label>
<input type="name" id="name">
```

or the `<label>` can be wrapped around the form control:

```html
<label>
    Full name <input type="name">
</label>
```

Buttons are different, as their labels are specified by the code for the button, e.g.

```html
<input type="submit" value="Send message">
<button>Send message</button>
```

Alternatively ARIA attributes, such as `aria-label` may be used, but this information
will not be conveyed to visual users. For more information, see [W3C's guide to labeling controls](https://www.w3.org/WAI/tutorials/forms/labels/).

Hidden input fields (`<input type="hidden">`) do not require labels.
Note that the `placeholder` attribute 
[should not be used as an alternative to a label](https://www.w3.org/TR/html/sec-forms.html#the-placeholder-attribute),
nor should the `title` attribute.

## Custom roles

Note that this check considers the underlying accessible role of an element, which can be 
different from the tag itself.

For example, this `<div>` has a `role` of `button`, and so is expected to have a label, like
a button would.

```html
<div role="button"></div>
```

form-control-labels

August 2025

July 2025

Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin

Title / URL	Issues
Contact Us \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/about/contact-us	1
Junior RIAM: Apply \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/junior-riam-apply	1
IT Services \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/student-life/it-services	1
Royal Irish Academy of Music \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/	1
Spotlight Awards \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/spotlight-awards	1
Exam Syllabi \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/exam-syllabi	1
College Calendar \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/college-calendar	1
About \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/about	1
Exam Supports \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/riam-exams/exam-supports	1
Junior RIAM \| RIAMwww.riam.ie/junior-riam	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin

Where this issue has occurred