Search | Oxfam GB

Contact us | Oxfam GB

Privacy policy - short version | Oxfam GB

Donate to charity online | Oxfam GB

Find your local Oxfam Shop | Shop Finder | Oxfam GB

Shop with us | Sustainable new and donated items | Oxfam GB

Oxfam GB Media Centre | Oxfam GB

Contact the Oxfam GB Media Team | Oxfam GB

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

February 2025

January 2025

Oxfam

Title / URL	Issues
Search \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/search/	2
Contact us \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/	1
Privacy policy - short version \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/privacy-and-security/	1
Donate to charity online \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/donate/	1
Find your local Oxfam Shop \| Shop Finder \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/shops/	1
Shop with us \| Sustainable new and donated items \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/shop-with-us/	1
Oxfam GB Media Centre \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/media/	1
Contact the Oxfam GB Media Team \| Oxfam GBwww.oxfam.org.uk/media/contact-us/	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Oxfam

Where this issue has occurred