Governance | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

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Contact Us | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

Cookie Policy | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

About | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Briefings | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

Legal Guides | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

Meet the Team | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

Consultations | JUSTICE | UK Legal Reform Charity

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

December 2025

November 2025

JUSTICE

Title / URL	Issues
Governance \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/about-us/our-governance	3
Get Involved \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/get-involved	1
Contact Us \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/contact-us	1
Cookie Policy \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/legal/cookie-policy	1
About \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/about-us	1
First time visit: View without clicking anythingjustice.org.uk/	1
Briefings \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/resources/briefings	1
Legal Guides \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/resources/our-guides	1
Meet the Team \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/about-us/our-team	1
Consultations \| JUSTICE \| UK Legal Reform Charityjustice.org.uk/resources/consultations	1

Ensure form controls have labels

JUSTICE

Where this issue has occurred