- Success Criterion 1.3.1
- Conformance level A
Form Label That Disappears the Moment You Start Typing
1.3.1 — Info and Relationships
Scenario
Setting
An email client's compose window
What’s wrong
Placeholder-only "labels" that vanish on input.
Example
<div class="heading">Shipping Address</div>Why it matters
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
How to test
Focus the field, then start typing: if the visible 'label' text disappears (because it was only a placeholder) with nothing left to identify the field, it fails.
How to fix
Add a persistent visible label — keep the placeholder as a supplementary hint only.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On an email client's compose window, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they can finish what they came here to do.
Who is affected
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text Styled to Look Like a Heading Instead of Coded as One
- Text Columns Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Markup
- Table Layout Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Code
- Clickable Div Acting as a Link Button With No Real Role
- Structural HTML Tags Used Purely for Visual Styling
- Layout-Only Table Wrongly Coded With Real Header Cells