Essex Sport Arena | University of Essex

Staff | Blog | University of Essex

Student | Blog | University of Essex

Colchester Campus | University of Essex

Categories | Blog | University of Essex

Podcasts | Blog | University of Essex

Locations | Blog | University of Essex

Essex Sport | University of Essex

Loughton Campus | University of Essex

Tags | Blog | University of Essex

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

University of Essex

	Title / URL	Issues
	Essex Sport Arena \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/arena	4
	Staff \| Blog \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/blog/staff	3
	Student \| Blog \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/blog/student	3
	Colchester Campus \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/life/colchester-campus	3
	Categories \| Blog \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/blog/categories	2
	Podcasts \| Blog \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/blog/categories/podcast	2
	Locations \| Blog \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/blog/post-map	2
	Essex Sport \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/sport	2
	Loughton Campus \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/life/loughton-campus	2
	Tags \| Blog \| University of Essexwww.essex.ac.uk/blog/tags	2

Ensure form controls have labels

University of Essex

Where this issue has occurred