Patrick Henry Gallen

Tamira Snell

Martin Kruse

Our Projects

Simon Fuglsang Østergaard

Nicklas Larsen

Carsten Beck

Sofie Hvitved

Thomas Geuken

Lasse Jonasson

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

May 2025

April 2025

Institut for Fremtidsforskning

Title / URL	Issues
Patrick Henry Gallencifs.dk/talks/phg/	9
Tamira Snellcifs.dk/talks/tsn/	9
Martin Krusecifs.dk/talks/mkr/	9
Our Projectscifs.dk/our-projects/	9
Simon Fuglsang Østergaardcifs.dk/talks/sio/	9
Nicklas Larsencifs.dk/talks/nil/	9
Carsten Beckcifs.dk/talks/cab/	9
Sofie Hvitvedcifs.dk/talks/sh/	9
Thomas Geukencifs.dk/talks/tg/	9
Lasse Jonassoncifs.dk/talks/lj/	9

Identify the purpose of fields programmatically

Institut for Fremtidsforskning

Where this issue has occurred