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Web Accessibility Academy · Lesson

Placeholder Is Not a Label

Why disappearing hints fail real users.

The Tempting Shortcut

It is tempting to drop hint text in a field and skip the label. But a placeholder is a hint, not a name. ⚠️

It Disappears

The moment someone starts typing, the placeholder vanishes. Now there is nothing left to say what the field was for.

<input type="text" placeholder="Full name">

All lessons in this course

  1. Every Input Needs a Real label
  2. Placeholder Is Not a Label
  3. Grouping Fields With fieldset and legend
  4. Help Text and Required Fields, Announced
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