News and opinion

The University of Sydney: One of Australia’s top universities

First time visit: View without clicking anything

International students

Study with us

Music - The University of Sydney

Give

Science - The University of Sydney

Arts and Social Sciences - The University of Sydney

Law - The University of Sydney

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

University of Sydney

Title / URL	Issues
News and opinionwww.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/latest-news.html	6
The University of Sydney: One of Australia’s top universitieswww.sydney.edu.au/	6
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwww.sydney.edu.au/	6
International studentswww.sydney.edu.au/study/international-students.html	5
Study with uswww.sydney.edu.au/study.html	4
Music - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/content/courses/field-of-study/music.html	3
Givewww.sydney.edu.au/engage/give.html	3
Science - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/content/courses/field-of-study/science.html	3
Arts and Social Sciences - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/content/courses/field-of-study/arts.html	3
Law - The University of Sydneywww.sydney.edu.au/content/courses/field-of-study/law.html	3

Ensure form controls have labels

University of Sydney

Where this issue has occurred