Baseline Widely available
The <label>
HTML element represents a caption for an item in a user interface.
<div class="preference">
<label for="cheese">Do you like cheese?</label>
<input type="checkbox" name="cheese" id="cheese" />
</div>
<div class="preference">
<label for="peas">Do you like peas?</label>
<input type="checkbox" name="peas" id="peas" />
</div>
.preference {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
width: 60%;
margin: 0.5rem;
}
Associating a <label>
with a form control, such as <input>
or <textarea>
offers some major advantages:
To explicitly associate a <label>
element with an <input>
element, you first need to add the id
attribute to the <input>
element. Next, you add the for
attribute to the <label>
element, where the value of for
is the same as the id
in the <input>
element.
Alternatively, you can nest the <input>
directly inside the <label>
, in which case the for
and id
attributes are not needed because the association is implicit:
<label>
Do you like peas?
<input type="checkbox" name="peas" />
</label>
The form control that a label is labeling is called the labeled control of the label element. Multiple labels can be associated with the same form control:
<label for="username">Enter your username:</label>
<input id="username" name="username" type="text" />
<label for="username">Forgot your username?</label>
Elements that can be associated with a <label>
element include <button>
, <input>
(except for type="hidden"
), <meter>
, <output>
, <progress>
, <select>
and <textarea>
.
This element includes the global attributes.
for
The value of the for
attribute must be a single id
for a labelable form-related element in the same document as the <label>
element. So, any given label
element can be associated with only one form control.
Note: To programmatically set the for
attribute, use htmlFor
.
The first element in the document with an id
attribute matching the value of the for
attribute is the labeled control for this label
element â if the element with that id
is actually a labelable element. If it is not a labelable element, then the for
attribute has no effect. If there are other elements that also match the id
value, later in the document, they are not considered.
Multiple label
elements can be given the same value for their for
attribute; doing so causes the associated form control (the form control that for
value references) to have multiple labels.
Note: A <label>
element can have both a for
attribute and a contained control element, as long as the for
attribute points to the contained control element.
There are no special styling considerations for <label>
elements â structurally they are inline elements, and so can be styled in much the same way as a <span>
or <a>
element. You can apply styling to them in any way you want, as long as you don't cause the text to become difficult to read.
Don't place interactive elements such as anchors or buttons inside a label
. Doing so makes it difficult for people to activate the form input associated with the label
.
Don't do this:
<label for="tac">
<input id="tac" type="checkbox" name="terms-and-conditions" />
I agree to the <a href="terms-and-conditions.html">Terms and Conditions</a>
</label>
Prefer this:
<label for="tac">
<input id="tac" type="checkbox" name="terms-and-conditions" />
I agree to the Terms and Conditions
</label>
<p>
<a href="terms-and-conditions.html">Read our Terms and Conditions</a>
</p>
Headings
Placing heading elements within a <label>
interferes with many kinds of assistive technology, because headings are commonly used as a navigation aid. If the label's text needs to be adjusted visually, use CSS classes applied to the <label>
element instead.
If a form, or a section of a form needs a title, use the <legend>
element placed within a <fieldset>
.
Don't do this:
<label for="your-name">
<h3>Your name</h3>
<input id="your-name" name="your-name" type="text" />
</label>
Prefer this:
<label class="large-label" for="your-name">
Your name
<input id="your-name" name="your-name" type="text" />
</label>
Buttons
An <input>
element with a type="button"
declaration and a valid value
attribute does not need a label associated with it. Doing so may actually interfere with how assistive technology parses the button input. The same applies for the <button>
element.
<label>Click me <input type="text" /></label>
Defining an explicit label with the "for" attribute
<label for="username">Click me to focus on the input field</label>
<input type="text" id="username" />
Technical summary Specifications Browser compatibility
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HTML:
3.2
| Encoding:
UTF-8
| Version:
0.7.3