Events | SUNY Potsdam

Residence Life & Housing | SUNY Potsdam

Tuition & Fees | SUNY Potsdam

Dining | SUNY Potsdam

Admissions | SUNY Potsdam

Apply Now | SUNY Potsdam

Life at Potsdam | SUNY Potsdam

Academic Resources | SUNY Potsdam

News | SUNY Potsdam

Directory | SUNY Potsdam

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

State University of New York at Potsdam

	Title / URL	Issues
	Events \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/events	3
	Residence Life & Housing \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/studentlife/housing	1
	Tuition & Fees \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/admissions/tuition	1
	Dining \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/studentlife/dining	1
	Admissions \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/admissions	1
	Apply Now \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/admissions/apply	1
	Life at Potsdam \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/studentlife	1
	Academic Resources \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/academics/resources	1
	News \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/news	1
	Directory \| SUNY Potsdamwww.potsdam.edu/about/directory	1

Ensure form controls have labels

State University of New York at Potsdam

Where this issue has occurred