Use labels to associate text with a form control. This is done using the for
and id
attributes on the label and the form control, respectively.
Label
Text labels should generally describe the function of each form control. Place the label adjacent to its respective form control. Labels are usually positioned above or to the left of controls, however, the labels for checkboxes and radio buttons are usually to the right of the control.
Label text should be short and sentence case.
Avoid using colons at the end of labels.
The following form controls classes are supported: .label
, .input
, .textarea
, .select
, .checkbox
, .radio
, .button
, .help
.
Each of them should be wrapped in a .control
container.
When combining several controls in a form, use the .field
class as a container, to keep the spacing consistent.
Form labels provide a number of accessibility benefits. When clicking on a control's label
element, focus will be applied to the control, thus increasing the size of the clickable area. Also, assistive technology can read the label each form control a blind user interacts with.
Form labels can be marked up in one of two ways:
- Explicitly - setting the
for
attribute of thelabel
equal to theid
attribute of the form control being labelled. - Implicity - wrapping the form control within its label.
It is considered best practice to set the for
attribute because some assistive technologies do not understand implicit relationships.
If you have any questions or suggestions for improvements, please contact the Web Team.