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Re: Form input label question

for

From: Jared Smith
Date: Dec 1, 2009 5:25PM

On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 4:53 PM, Keith Parks < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> The issue is with a Label element. The Label is correctly associated
> with an input through the "for" value, but the input it is tied to is
> a *hidden* input. I assume that hidden inputs do not need Labels, right?
>
> The WebAIM WAVE tester flags it as an orphaned Label.

I am going to assume that by "hidden" you mean <input type="hidden">
and not another input type that is hidden from view.

You are correct - hidden inputs do not need and have no benefit from
being assigned labels. I can't imagine why one would want to. Because
the hidden form element cannot be navigated to, the label will not be
read in association with that element. Instead, the label will only
read as the page is read by a screen reader in browse mode, which
could be confusing depending on what the text is. Additionally, if you
hover your mouse over the visible label text within the page, the
mouse cursor may indicate a clickable element which could also be
confusing.

Is this an accessibility error? It probably depends on what the label
text is, but I wouldn't consider this a serious issue. Certainly no
accessibility guidelines address this. The logic in WAVE identifies
labels that are not properly associated with a form element type that
typically should have labels - and hidden inputs rarely do and don't
need them anyway.

Jared Smith
WebAIM