Guidance for the public | Human Tissue Authority

404: Not found | Human Tissue Authority

"This is why I do what I do" | Blog | Human Tissue Authority

The role of inspections | Blog | Human Tissue Authority

News | Human Tissue Authority

Careers | Human Tissue Authority

Guidance by sector | Human Tissue Authority

Post mortem examinations | Human Tissue Authority

Contact us | Human Tissue Authority

HTA Blog | Human Tissue Authority

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

Human Tissue Authority

Title / URL	Issues
Guidance for the public \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/guidance-public/	7
404: Not found \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/invented-url-for-404-page	7
"This is why I do what I do" \| Blog \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/blog/why-i-do-what-i-do/	7
The role of inspections \| Blog \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/blog/role-inspections/	7
News \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/about-hta/news/	7
Careers \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/about-hta/careers/	7
Guidance by sector \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/guidance-professionals/guidance-sector/	7
Post mortem examinations \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/guidance-public/post-mortems/	7
Contact us \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/make-an-enquiry/	7
HTA Blog \| Human Tissue Authoritywww.hta.gov.uk/blog/	7

Ensure form controls have labels

Human Tissue Authority

Where this issue has occurred