Careers search - Network Rail

Looking after the railway - Network Rail

An apprenticeship in the Property team - Network Rail

You searched for - Network Rail

Helping the homeless - Network Rail

“Your words are a life-saving kit” - Network Rail

Delays explained - Network Rail

Stories around our network - Network Rail

Armed Forces - Network Rail

Rail freight - Network Rail

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

Network Rail

	Title / URL	Issues
	Careers search - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/careers/careers-search/	1
	Looking after the railway - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/	1
	An apprenticeship in the Property team - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/stories/an-apprenticeship-in-the-property-team/	1
	You searched for - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/?s	1
	Helping the homeless - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/stories/helping-the-homeless/	1
	“Your words are a life-saving kit” - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/stories/your-words-are-a-life-saving-kit/	1
	Delays explained - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/delays-explained/	1
	Stories around our network - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/stories/page/69/	1
	Armed Forces - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/careers/our-business-areas/armed-forces/	1
	Rail freight - Network Railwww.networkrail.co.uk/industry-and-commercial/rail-freight/	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Network Rail

Where this issue has occurred