Minoritetsforskning | Åbo Akademi

Aktuellt | Åbo Akademi

Snapchat vid Åbo Akademi | Åbo Akademi

Ajankohtaista | Åbo Akademi

Dataskydd vid Åbo Akademi | Åbo Akademi

Studera hos oss | Åbo Akademi

IT-hjälp | Åbo Akademi

Åbo Akademis bibliotek (biblioteket) | Åbo Akademi

Opiskele meillä | Åbo Akademi

Har du studerat vid Åbo Akademi? | Åbo Akademi

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

March 2026

February 2026

Åbo Akademi University

Title / URL	Issues
Minoritetsforskning \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/minoritetsforskning/	2
Aktuellt \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/aktuellt/	2
Snapchat vid Åbo Akademi \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/snapchat/	2
Ajankohtaista \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/	2
Dataskydd vid Åbo Akademi \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/dataskydd/	2
Studera hos oss \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/studera-hos-oss/	2
IT-hjälp \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/om-abo-akademi/it-hjalp/	2
Åbo Akademis bibliotek (biblioteket) \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/biblioteket/	2
Opiskele meillä \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/fi/opiskelemeilla/	2
Har du studerat vid Åbo Akademi? \| Åbo Akademiwww.abo.fi/samverkan/alumner/	2

Ensure form controls have labels

Åbo Akademi University

Where this issue has occurred