Study at Umeå University

Umeå University

Contact us

Umeå universitet

Press och media

Jobba hos oss

Bibliotek

Hitta din utbildning

Hälsa på campus

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

Umeå Universitet

Title / URL	Issues
Study at Umeå Universitywww.umu.se/en/education/	2
Umeå Universitywww.umu.se/en/	2
Contact uswww.umu.se/en/contact-us/	2
Umeå universitetwww.umu.se/	1
Press och mediawww.umu.se/kontakta-oss/press/	1
Jobba hos osswww.umu.se/jobba-hos-oss/	1
404www.umu.se/invented-url-for-404-page	1
Bibliotekwww.umu.se/bibliotek/	1
Hitta din utbildningwww.umu.se/utbildning/sok/	1
Hälsa på campuswww.umu.se/idrottshogskolan/halsa-pa-campus/	1

Ensure form controls have labels

Umeå Universitet

Where this issue has occurred