Donate in Memory | Mencap

Learning Disability - Down syndrome - Williams syndrome | Mencap

Get involved and support Mencap | Mencap

Learning Disability - Independent Living - Housing | Mencap

Oh no! We can't find that page | Mencap

Rock Your Socks for Mencap

Events | Mencap

Mencap's Online Community

Transport for people with a learning disability | Mencap

Gifts in Wills | Mencap

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

Mencap

	Title / URL	Issues
	Donate in Memory \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/get-involved/donate-memory	4
	Learning Disability - Down syndrome - Williams syndrome \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/	1
	Get involved and support Mencap \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/get-involved	1
	Learning Disability - Independent Living - Housing \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/housing	1
	Oh no! We can't find that page \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/invented-url-for-404-page	1
	Rock Your Socks for Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/event/rock-your-socks-mencap	1
	Events \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/events	1
	Mencap's Online Communitywww.mencap.org.uk/onlinecommunity	1
	Transport for people with a learning disability \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/transport	1
	Gifts in Wills \| Mencapwww.mencap.org.uk/get-involved/gifts-in-wills	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Mencap

Where this issue has occurred