5 Best Practices for Creating Accessible Forms

From signing up for a newsletter and completing a job application to making an online purchase, forms are everywhere. 

However, while forms are essential for gathering information, they can quickly become frustrating roadblocks for users with disabilities if not designed properly.

If you’re a web developer or UX designer, there are a few best practices you need to follow if you want to create forms that are both user-friendly and inclusive.

Why Accessible Forms Matter

Accessible forms matter because they ensure that every one of your users can complete essential tasks without barriers. 

For people with disabilities, poorly designed forms can make simple actions like signing up for services or submitting applications frustrating or impossible. By designing forms with accessibility in mind, businesses create a more inclusive digital experience, improving usability for everyone. 

Accessible forms also enhance user satisfaction, increase engagement, and expand market reach by ensuring that no one is excluded due to design flaws.

Beyond usability, there are also legal and ethical considerations. Most countries have regulations requiring digital accessibility, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the European Accessibility Act. Non-compliance can lead to lawsuits, fines, and a damaged reputation.

From an ethical standpoint, prioritizing accessibility reflects a commitment to fairness and equal access, and who doesn’t want to do business with brands that want to do the right thing?

How Accessible Forms Benefit Your Business

There are a few good reasons why it pays to take the time to create user-friendly forms. 

Better User Experience

Every customer deserves to have a memorable experience on your site, and an accessible form can help with this. When your site’s forms are designed with users of all abilities in mind, you automatically enhance the user experience. And when you provide a good user experience, you also increase engagement and potentially, sales. 

Enhanced SEO

Major search engines value sites that provide the best possible user experience, so keeping web accessibility in mind when designing forms can have a positive impact on your SEO efforts. When users can easily complete your forms, they tend to spend more time on your site and visit more frequently, all of which are positive SEO indicators.

Legal Compliance

Even the smallest websites and brands are being targeted by accessibility lawsuits with the costs extending into the hundreds of thousands. This is enough to damage any business if not shut it down completely. Ensuring your forms are accessible can help you avoid costly penalties and lawsuits.

The 3 Core Principles of Accessible Form Design

When creating disability-friendly forms, there are a few core principles that you need to abide by.

1. Keyboard Navigation

Many users rely on a keyboard rather than a mouse to navigate a website, including users with motor impairments and those using assistive technologies like screen readers. 

Forms must be fully operable using only a keyboard, meaning users should be able to move between fields using the Tab key and activate buttons with Enter or Space. 

Proper focus indicators (such as visible outlines on active fields) should be included so users always know where they are in the form.

2. Clear and Concise Labeling

Form fields should have clear, descriptive labels that inform users what information is required. 

Labels should be placed close to the corresponding input field (typically above or to the left) to improve readability and ease of use. 

It’s important to avoid placeholder text as a sole identifier, as it disappears when users start typing and may cause confusion, especially for those with cognitive disabilities. Labels should also be explicitly associated with input fields using the <label for=””> attribute in HTML. 

When necessary, additional instructions or error messages should be provided in a simple, easy-to-understand format to prevent mistakes and improve the user experience.

3. Semantic HTML

Using semantic HTML elements ensures that assistive technologies can properly interpret and convey form information to users. Instead of relying on generic <div> or <span> elements for structuring a form, developers should use proper HTML tags.

Semantic HTML improves accessibility by providing a logical structure that screen readers can interpret correctly, making it easier for users with disabilities to navigate and complete forms independently.

5 Best Practices for Creating Disability-Friendly Forms

Now that you know what core principles to keep in mind, let’s get into some of the specifics for creating accessible forms.

1. Use Appropriate HTML Elements

Using the correct HTML elements ensures that forms are structured in a way that is both accessible and easy to navigate. Forms should be built using semantic elements, such as:

• <form> to define the form structure.
• <label> to clearly associate labels with input fields using the for attribute.
• <input> with appropriate type attributes (text, email, password, etc.) to ensure the right keyboard and accessibility support.
• <textarea> for longer text input fields instead of forcing users to type in a single-line text box.
• <fieldset> and <legend> to group related fields, such as a set of radio buttons, making it easier for screen reader users to understand relationships between inputs.

2. Provide Alternative Text for Images

If a form includes images, icons, or buttons with images, they must have alternative text (alt text) to describe their function to screen reader users. 

For example, a submit button with an image should have an alt attribute (alt=”Submit form”) or use a <button> element with text inside. If an image is purely decorative, it should have an empty alt=”” attribute to prevent screen readers from announcing unnecessary content.

3. Ensure Sufficient Color Contrast

Users with visual impairments, including color blindness, may struggle with poor contrast between text and background colors. To ensure readability:

• Text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1.
• Input fields, buttons, and error messages should have sufficient contrast against their backgrounds.
• Don’t rely on color alone to convey information (e.g. if an error message is red, you should also provide a symbol or text like “Error: Invalid email address”).

You can use this free Color Contrast checker to get started.

4. Validate Form Input

Form validation should be clear, helpful, and accessible for all users. Here’s how to ensure an inclusive validation process:

• Provide real-time feedback (e.g. highlighting errors as users type rather than only after submission).
• Use text explanations in addition to visual indicators like red borders. 
• Ensure error messages are programmatically associated with the relevant field using aria-describedby.
• Allow users to easily correct mistakes without losing previously entered data.

5. Use ARIA Attributes Appropriately

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes help improve the accessibility of complex forms, but they should be used only when necessary and applied correctly. Some useful ARIA attributes include:

• aria-labelledby – Associates a field with a label when a standard <label> can’t be used.
• aria-describedby – Links an input field to additional instructions or error messages.
• aria-invalid=”true” – Identifies invalid form inputs dynamically.
• role=”alert” – Ensures error messages are announced immediately by screen readers.

Testing for Accessibility

Once you’ve done what’s necessary to make your forms accessible, it’s time to test them, and there are two ways you should do this.

Using Assistive Technology

To start, you want to test your forms using various forms of assistive technology, with a focus on screen readers and keyboards. This will give you more insights into whether each form’s full functionality is available to someone who relies on these tools. 

Some of the screen readers you can use for testing include Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome.

User Testing

Next, you want to get feedback from real users. You could use your internal development team for this, but it’s best to get feedback from users with disabilities instead. These users know what they need from an online experience, which means you’ll get the most authentic feedback possible. 

Wrapping Up

Forms might be a minor part of your website, but they’re one of the more engaging elements on your site, so it’s essential to keep web accessibility in mind.

User-friendly forms not only enhance your user experience and SEO, but take you one step closer to compliance, which means you can avoid costly lawsuits and brand damage.