uTech Support Center - Western Illinois University

Academic Programs - Western Illinois University

Calendars - Western Illinois University

Foundation and Development - Western Illinois University

Headlines - Western Illinois University

First time visit: View without clicking anything

Visit Western Illinois University - Western Illinois University

Right Here at Home: Macomb's Campus and Community - Western Illinois University

Student Life - Western Illinois University

Office of Public Safety - Western Illinois University

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

Western Illinois University

Title / URL	Issues
uTech Support Center - Western Illinois Universitywww.wiu.edu/university_technology/support/index.php	2
Academic Programs - Western Illinois Universitywiu.edu/academics/	2
Calendars - Western Illinois Universitywww.wiu.edu/calendar/	2
Foundation and Development - Western Illinois Universitywww.wiu.edu/foundation/	2
Headlines - Western Illinois Universitywiu.edu/news/	2
First time visit: View without clicking anythingwiu.edu/	2
Visit Western Illinois University - Western Illinois Universitywiu.edu/visit/	2
Right Here at Home: Macomb's Campus and Community - Western Illinois Universitywww.wiu.edu/macomb/	2
Student Life - Western Illinois Universitywiu.edu/student_success/	2
Office of Public Safety - Western Illinois Universitywww.wiu.edu/public_safety/	2

Ensure form controls have labels

Western Illinois University

Where this issue has occurred