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HTML HTML Forms Organizing Forms Fieldsets and Legends

Posted by Christopher Sea
Christopher Sea
3,726 Points

Label Element OR Placeholder Attribute?

It seems as though both of these serve the same purpose. Should the use of one over the other depend on the purpose of the form/website, some other factor, or does it not matter at all?

1 Answer

Dave StSomeWhere
Dave StSomeWhere
19,870 Points
Dave StSomeWhere
Dave StSomeWhere
19,870 Points

The serve two different purposes. The label is a separate element that provides text. The placeholder is an attribute that puts text inside the element like an input text element. Check out this example pen hopefully it will clear things up. Also, please note that the example links the label to the input element with the for attribute on the label matching the id attribute of the input, but a label can stand alone.

Luke Pettway
Luke Pettway
16,593 Points

To further elaborate, you should always use a label, it is a very important accessibility feature, and without them it can be a nightmare for screen reader users to use your forms. It provides context for what the form element is, so when a user that uses a screen readers tabs to that element, it can announce that it is a "first name" input.