• Success Criterion 3.3.1
  • Conformance level A

Error Summary That Names Fields Too Vaguely to Identify Them

3.3.1 — Error Identification

Scenario

Setting

A podcast app's episode list

What’s wrong

Errors shown only in a summary that names fields ambiguously ("Field 3 invalid").

Example 

<ul id="error-summary">
  <li><a href="#field-3">Field 3 invalid</a></li>
  <li><a href="#field-7">Field 7 invalid</a></li>
</ul>
<!-- fields are numbered by table column position, not named -->

Why it matters

A podcaster editing 20 episodes at once can't tell if 'Field 3' means the release date or the episode number, so they have to guess-check every row.

How to test

Submit invalid data and check the error summary: if fields are named ambiguously ('Field 3 invalid') instead of by their actual label, it fails.

How to fix

Name the episode and the actual field label in the summary text, not a column index.

<ul id="error-summary">
  <li><a href="#ep12-release-date">Episode 12: Release date must be in the past</a></li>
  <li><a href="#ep15-duration">Episode 15: Duration must be a number of minutes</a></li>
</ul>

Outcome

The podcaster jumps straight to episode 12's release date and fixes it in seconds.

Who is affected

Screen reader users and people with cognitive disabilities who rely on meaningful names rather than positional numbering to locate a control.

Learn more

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