Technique ARIA16:Using aria-labelledby to provide a name for user interface controls

Example 1: Labelling a simple text field

The following is an example of aria-labelledby used on a simple text field to provide a label in a situation where there is no text available for a dedicated label but there is other text on the page that can be used to accurately label the control.

<input name="searchtxt" type="text" aria-labelledby="searchbtn">
<input name="searchbtn" id="searchbtn" type="submit" value="Search">

Example 2: Labelling a slider

Below is an example of aria-labelledby used to provide a label for a slider control. In this case the label text is selected from within a longer adjacent text string. Please note that this example is simplified to show only the labeling relationship; authors implementing custom controls also need to ensure that controls meet other success criteria.

<p>Please select the <span id="mysldr-lbl">number of days for your trip</span></p>
<div id="mysldr" role="slider" aria-labelledby="mysldr-lbl"></div>

Example 3: A label from multiple sources

The following example of aria-labelledby with multiple references uses the label element. For additional detail on concatenating multiple sources of information into a label with aria-labelledby, please view the technique Using ARIA labelledby to concatenate a label from several text nodes.

<label id="l1" for="f3">Notify me</label>
<select name="amt" id="f3" aria-labelledby="l1 f3 l2">
  <option value="1">1</option>
  <option value="2">2</option>
</select>
<span id="l2">days in advance</span>

Note: The use of the label element is included for a number of reasons. If the user clicks on the text of the label element, the corresponding form field will receive focus, which makes the clicking target larger for people with dexterity problems. Also the label element will always be exposed via the accessibility API. A span could have been used. However, a span would lose the advantage of the larger clickable region.