Our Partners | Softcat

Expert Copilot Implementation & Support | Softcat

Careers | Find A Job You'll Love | Softcat

First time visit: View without clicking anything

IT Infrastructure & Services Provider | Softcat

Content Hub | Softcat

Home :: Softcat

Blog | Softcat

Latest IT Industry News | Softcat

Cisco | Partners | Softcat

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

January 2026

December 2025

Softcat

Title / URL	Issues
Our Partners \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/partners	71
Expert Copilot Implementation & Support \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/copilot	18
Careers \| Find A Job You'll Love \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/careers	16
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.softcat.com/	6
IT Infrastructure & Services Provider \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/	6
Content Hub \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/content-hub	5
Home :: Softcatwww.softcat.com/ie	3
Blog \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/blog	2
Latest IT Industry News \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/news	2
Cisco \| Partners \| Softcatwww.softcat.com/partners/cisco	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Softcat

Where this issue has occurred