Who this affects
A field has more than one label, and screen readers may announce only one of them — often the wrong one.
How to fix it
Keep exactly one <label> per field; move extra text into a hint element referenced by aria-describedby.
Effort Low · ~15 min
Where this sits in the standard
| WCAG success criterion | Level | EN 301 549 clause |
|---|---|---|
| 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions | A | 301-549, 9.3.3.2 |
EN 301 549 clause 9 applies these criteria to web content. The published version referenced by the European Accessibility Act is V3.2.1, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 level A and AA. More on the standard.
How to check it by hand
Click each field's visible label. If focus does not move into the field, the label is not bound to it. Then tab through the form with a screen reader running and confirm every field announces its own purpose, not just its type.
Automated testing settles roughly a third of the WCAG success criteria. This rule is one an automated tool detects reliably — but a clean automated result is not proof of conformance.
Reference
Deque's technical write-up for this rule: form-field-multiple-labels
See whether your site trips this rule
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