Pharmacies | NHS 24

Sexual health clinics | NHS 24

Abdominal pain | NHS 24

Armed Forces | NHS 24

About NHS 24 | NHS 24

You searched for | Page 3 of 39 | NHS 24

Shoulder pain | NHS 24

You searched for | Page 39 of 39 | NHS 24

News and events | NHS 24

Check your symptoms | NHS 24

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

November 2025

October 2025

NHS24

	Title / URL	Issues
	Pharmacies \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/find-a-service/pharmacies/	2
	Sexual health clinics \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/find-a-service/sexual-health-clinics	2
	Abdominal pain \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/check-your-symptoms/abdominal-pain/	1
	Armed Forces \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/careers/armed-forces/	1
	About NHS 24 \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/about-nhs-24/	1
	You searched for \| Page 3 of 39 \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/page/3/?s	1
	Shoulder pain \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/check-your-symptoms/shoulder-pain/	1
	You searched for \| Page 39 of 39 \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/page/39/?s=	1
	News and events \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/news-and-events/?e-page-f9363a5=4	1
	Check your symptoms \| NHS 24www.nhs24.scot/check-your-symptoms/	1

Ensure form controls have labels

NHS24

Where this issue has occurred