Publications | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Who we funded | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Available funding | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Funding | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Home | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Contact us | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Film | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Creative Schools | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Music | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Payment Templates | The Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

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

May 2025

April 2025

Arts Council (An Chomhairle Ealaíon)

Title / URL	Issues
Publications \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/publications/	6
Who we funded \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/funding-decisions/	5
Available funding \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/available-funding/	5
Funding \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/funding/	4
Home \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/home/	4
Contact us \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/contact-us/	4
Film \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/Arts-in-Ireland/Film/	4
Creative Schools \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/creative-schools/	4
Music \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/Arts-in-Ireland/Music/	4
Payment Templates \| The Arts Council \| An Chomhairle Ealaíonwww.artscouncil.ie/Funding/Payment-Templates/	4

Ensure form controls have labels

Arts Council (An Chomhairle Ealaíon)

Where this issue has occurred