1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose

What does it mean?

When a form asks for information about the user, such as name, e-mail, phone, address or birthday, the field must state its purpose in a way software can read. In HTML this is done with the autocomplete attribute and the defined tokens, for example autocomplete="email" or autocomplete="postal-code".

This lets browsers fill in fields automatically and lets assistive tools show familiar icons or simpler wording. It only applies to fields about the user themselves, not to fields about other people, such as a gift recipient, and only where a matching token exists.

Who does it help?

• People with motor disabilities who find typing slow or tiring
• People with cognitive disabilities or memory difficulties
• People with dyslexia who make typing errors
• Everyone filling in forms on a phone

Common failures

• Contact forms with name, e-mail and phone fields and no autocomplete attributes
• Using autocomplete="off" on fields that collect the user's own data
• Invented values such as autocomplete="mail" instead of the defined token "email"

How we test it

• axe-core Automatic: axe-core finds typical violations. A violation is pre-filled as “fails”.
• evidence Evidence: our scanner collects material such as screenshots, lists and measurements.

Test question: Do fields for personal data (name, email, phone, address) have the right autocomplete value?

A person decides every criterion. No criterion ever passes automatically.

How to fix it

<label for="n">Name</label> <input id="n" name="n">
<label for="m">E-mail</label> <input id="m" name="m">

<label for="name">Full name</label>
<input id="name" name="name" autocomplete="name">
<label for="email">E-mail</label>
<input id="email" name="email" type="email" autocomplete="email">

The autocomplete tokens tell browsers and assistive tools exactly what each field is for.

Practical tips

• The full list of tokens is in the HTML specification under "autofill".

Guides and patterns on this

• Forms that everyone can completeForms are where people buy, book or give up. This guide shows how labels, required fields and error messages need to work for keyboard, screen reader and magnifier users.

Official source

Understanding WCAG 2.2 at the W3C: 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose