- Success Criterion 2.4.6
- Conformance level AA
Heading or Label That Fails to Describe Its Own Purpose
2.4.6 — Headings and Labels
Scenario
Setting
A music streaming app's playlist screen
What’s wrong
Playlist controls are labeled with generic text like "Button" and "Item" instead of descriptive labels such as "Shuffle playlist" or "Add to queue," so the label doesn't describe what the control does.
Example
<label for="q1">Question 1</label>Why it matters
Everyone, especially screen-reader users and people who skim headings/labels for orientation.
How to test
Read every heading and field label out of context: each must describe its section's topic or the field's purpose on its own — vague or missing description fails.
How to fix
The heading or label must describe its section's topic or the control's purpose, distinguishably from its siblings.
<label for="q1">What is your monthly household income?</label>Labels and headings need to describe their actual topic or purpose, not just their position in a sequence.
Outcome
On a music streaming app's playlist screen, this barrier is gone for everyone — they can finish what they came here to do.
Who is affected
Everyone, especially screen-reader users and people who skim headings/labels for orientation.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Generic Section Heading Like ‘Introduction’ That Says Nothing
- Identical Headings Repeated Over Completely Different Content
- Form Label Like ‘Field 1’ That Doesn’t Describe Its Purpose
- Same Label Used for Two Different Fields on One Form
- Clever Marketing Heading That Hides What a Section Actually Does
- Button Labeled ‘OK’ on a Destructive, Irreversible Action