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Re: Do you need to have a label on a form field when it has a default value?

for

From: Jukka K. Korpela
Date: Sep 9, 2010 10:57PM

Dean Hamack wrote:

> Building a form, and the design specs show a form field with the
> instructions for what to enter right in the field, like so:
>
> <input name="mobile" type="text" value="Enter a 10 digit T-Mobile
> Number" />
>
> Is a label really necessary here? It seems redundant to me.

It is not necessary, it is harmful to accessibility and usability. Any
instructions that are needed should be given in the page content, preferably
before the field and its label, or as available by following a link.

(I suppose the form is for some technical context for people who know what
"T-Mobile Number" means.)

--
Yucca, http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/