Graduate Academics | Bethel University

News Archive | Bethel University

Latest News and Stories | Bethel University

Faith at Bethel | Bethel University

Graduate Admissions | Bethel University

Seminary Academics | Bethel University

BUILD Program | Bethel University

Performing and Visual Arts | Bethel University

Parents & Families | Bethel University

Give Online | Bethel University

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

June 2025

May 2025

Bethel University

Title / URL	Issues
Graduate Academics \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/graduate/academics/	10
News Archive \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/news/archive	8
Latest News and Stories \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/news/	8
Faith at Bethel \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/about/faith/	8
Graduate Admissions \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/graduate/admissions/	7
Seminary Academics \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/seminary/academics/	7
BUILD Program \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/academics/build/	6
Performing and Visual Arts \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/events/arts/	5
Parents & Families \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/parents/	5
Give Online \| Bethel Universitywww.bethel.edu/giving/give-online/	4

Ensure form controls have labels

Bethel University

Where this issue has occurred