Success Criterion 3.3.2 - Level A
Labels or Instructions
Ensure clear instructions are provided when asking users to input data. Add a label to input fields, for example 'First name'. Mark whether fields are required or optional. Indicate if data must be entered in a specific format, such as dates and phone numbers. Clear instructions help all users, especially users with cognitive disabilities.
Impact
Clear instructions make entering data more user-friendly for everyone.
Clear instructions are indispensable for users with cognitive, language and learning disabilities.
Check
“Is it clear which data is expected, and which fields are required, inside a forms?”
This can be tested without assistive technologies.
Solution
Use input labels
On Android, you can link labels to controls by using the labelFor attribute. We recommend using a TextView to show labels for input fields.
You can also use TextInputLayout, which allows you to create an input field with a label. The hint property at the TextInputLayout level is used as visual label. The hintEnabled and expandedHintEnabled properties must be set to true to always show the label.
<TextView android:text="Name" android:labelFor="@+id/field"/>
<EditText id="@+id/field" hint="Enter your name"/>
<com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
app:hintEnabled="true"
app:expandedHintEnabled="true"
android:hint="Name">
<com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputEditText
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:hint="Enter your name"/>
</com.google.android.material.textfield.TextInputLayout>Provide input instructions
On Android, you can use a TextView to show instructions.
You can also use a TextInputLayout, which contains a setHelperText method to provide instructions. To show instructions, you need to set setHelperTextEnabled to true.
input.setHelperTextEnabled(true)
input.setHelperText("Your password should be at least 8 characters.")