Your Path to Legal Expertise | Flinders University - Flinders University

Study Sport - Flinders University - Flinders University

Study Defence and National Security - Flinders University

Study Engineering - Flinders University

Study Education in Australia – Flinders University - Flinders University

Study Environment - Flinders University

Study an Environment degree in Australia - Flinders University

Schools and teachers - Flinders University

Flinders University - Adelaide, South Australia - Flinders University

First time visit: View without clicking anything

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

Flinders University

	Title / URL	Issues
	Your Path to Legal Expertise \| Flinders University - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/study/law	7
	Study Sport - Flinders University - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/study/sport	7
	Study Defence and National Security - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/study/defence-national-security	7
	Study Engineering - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/study/engineering	7
	Study Education in Australia – Flinders University - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/international/education	5
	Study Environment - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/study/environment	4
	Study an Environment degree in Australia - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/international/environment	3
	Schools and teachers - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/study/schools-teachers	3
	Flinders University - Adelaide, South Australia - Flinders Universitywww.flinders.edu.au/	3
	First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.flinders.edu.au/	3

Ensure form controls have labels

Flinders University

Where this issue has occurred