Techniques for WCAG 2.0

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G205: Including a text cue for colored form control labels

Important Information about Techniques

See Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria for important information about the usage of these informative techniques and how they relate to the normative WCAG 2.0 success criteria. The Applicability section explains the scope of the technique, and the presence of techniques for a specific technology does not imply that the technology can be used in all situations to create content that meets WCAG 2.0.

Applicability

All technologies that support color and text.

This technique relates to:

Description

The objective of this technique is to combine color and text or character cues to convey information. Most users can quickly scan the content to locate information conveyed by using color differences. Users who cannot see color can look or listen for text cues; people using Braille displays or other tactile interfaces can detect text cues by touch.

The text cue must be included as part of the programmatically determinable name for the control.

Examples

Example 1: Required fields in an HTML form

The instructions for an online form say, "Required fields are shown in red and marked with (required)." The cue "(required)" is included within the label element.

Example Code:

<label for="lastname" class="required">Last name (required): </label>
<input id="lastname" type="text" size="25" value=""/>
<style type="text/css">
  .required {
    color:red;
  }
</style>

Resources

No resources available for this technique.

Tests

Procedure

For any content where color differences are used to convey information:

  1. Check that the same information is available through text or character cues.

Expected Results

If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.