Winter Reception | Heriot-Watt University

Fees and funding | Heriot-Watt University

Facilities | Heriot-Watt University

Virtual tour | Heriot-Watt University

Study | Heriot-Watt University

Malaysia | Heriot-Watt University

Meet our students | Heriot-Watt University

About | Heriot-Watt University

Academic calendar | Heriot-Watt University

Apply | Heriot-Watt University

To comply with WCAG 2.1, fields must identify what their purpose is _programmatically_. If done correctly,
this allows browsers to help users fill in forms with known information, such as their name and email address.

This is accomplished via the `autocomplete` attribute, which should be set to a 
[supported value](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Attributes/autocomplete) wherever
appropriate, e.g. 

```html
<label for="name">
  First Name
</label>
<input id="name" type="text" autocomplete="given-name">
```

For fields where `autocomplete` is not appropriate, e.g. due to security, or the field not matching the
specification, the specific field should be ignored.

## Methodology

* All fields which could support `autocomplete` (e.g. text fields)
  are checked. Other fields - like dropdown menus - are ignored.
* The [accessible name](https://www.w3.org/TR/accname-1.2/) of each field is considered. In most cases this
  will be the `<label>` for the field.
* If the name matches a known pattern the field 
  must have an appropriate `autocomplete` value specified.
  For example, an `<input>` with type `text` with a label of 
  "First Name" would be expected to have an autocomplete value 
  of `given-name` or similar.

Note that using `autocomplete="on"` is not sufficient to pass this check, a
specific named autocomplete value must be used. See the
[supported values](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Attributes/autocomplete).

## Troubleshooting

If a field is a false positive, check whether the field has an 
appropriate accessible name (i.e. a `<label>` or `aria-label`).

If the label is incorrect, Silktide may assume that the field 
requires `autocomplete` where it does not. You should fix the 
label to avoid this.

Otherwise, you can simply ignore the specific field.

## More information

* [How to use HTML 5.2 attributes](https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Techniques/html/H98)

identify-input-purpose

January 2026

December 2025

Heriot-Watt University

	Title / URL	Issues
	Winter Reception \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/news/events/2025/winter-reception	18
	Fees and funding \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/study/fees-and-funding	2
	Facilities \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/campus/facilities	2
	Virtual tour \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/campus/virtual-tour	2
	Study \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/study	2
	Malaysia \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/malaysia	2
	Meet our students \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/study/meet-our-students	2
	About \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/malaysia/about	2
	Academic calendar \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/study/apply/academic-calendar	2
	Apply \| Heriot-Watt Universitywww.hw.ac.uk/dubai/study/apply	2

Identify the purpose of fields programmatically

Heriot-Watt University

Where this issue has occurred