University of Groningen Library | Library | University of Groningen

News overview | News articles | University of Groningen

Search | University of Groningen

Exchange | Education | University of Groningen

Profile | About us | University of Groningen

Alumni | University of Groningen

For alumni | Alumni | University of Groningen

Education | University of Groningen

Top 100 University | University of Groningen

Oops, sorry, page not found (404)

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

October 2025

September 2025

University of Groningen

	Title / URL	Issues
	University of Groningen Library \| Library \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/library/	3
	News overview \| News articles \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/news/	3
	Search \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/search/	3
	Exchange \| Education \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/education/exchange/	2
	Profile \| About us \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/about-ug/profile/	2
	Alumni \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/alumni/	2
	For alumni \| Alumni \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/alumni/for-alumni/	2
	Education \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/education/	2
	Top 100 University \| University of Groningenwww.rug.nl/	2
	Oops, sorry, page not found (404)www.rug.nl/invented-url-for-404-page	2

Ensure form controls have labels

University of Groningen

Where this issue has occurred