Economic surveys: take part | CBI

CBI Economics: Horizon scanning | CBI

Join the voice of business | CBI

CBI Economics: bespoke economic consultancy | CBI

Where we operate | CBI

Taking UK business on the global stage | CBI

FAQs | CBI

Contact Us | CBI

Media Centre | CBI

Forgotten password | CBI

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

February 2026

January 2026

	Title / URL	Issues
	Economic surveys: take part \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/economics/surveys/	6
	CBI Economics: Horizon scanning \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/economics/horizon-scanning/	2
	Join the voice of business \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/join-the-cbi/	2
	CBI Economics: bespoke economic consultancy \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/economics/economic-consultancy/	2
	Where we operate \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/help/where-we-operate/	1
	Taking UK business on the global stage \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/about-us/international/	1
	FAQs \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/help/faqs/	1
	Contact Us \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/help/contact-us/	1
	Media Centre \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/media-centre/	1
	Forgotten password \| CBIwww.cbi.org.uk/account/forgotten-password/	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Cbi

Where this issue has occurred