PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts | Since 1805

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Accessibility | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Exhibitions | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Digital Guide to PAFA | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

About PAFA | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Finance Department | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Mission and Values | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

News | PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

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

PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

	Title / URL	Issues
	PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts \| Since 1805www.pafa.org/	1
	First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.pafa.org/	1
	Accessibility \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/museum/visit/accessibility	1
	Exhibitions \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/museum/exhibitions/upcoming	1
	Digital Guide to PAFA \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/museum/visit/digital-guide-pafa	1
	About PAFA \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/about	1
	Finance Department \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/about/offices-services/finance	1
	Mission and Values \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/mission-values	1
	News \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/news/press/news	1
	Exhibitions \| PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Artswww.pafa.org/museum/exhibitions	1

Ensure form controls have labels

PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Where this issue has occurred