Form labels (don’t use placeholder as the label)

A short, practical UI accessibility note for games and web UIs. No tracking.

What goes wrong

Placeholders can be useful as examples, but they’re a poor substitute for a real label. If the placeholder is the only label:

• It disappears when you type, so the field becomes ambiguous.
• It’s easy to lose context when switching between fields or correcting errors.
• Many people with cognitive/attention differences benefit from persistent cues.

What to do instead

• Use a real <label for="…"> that stays visible.
• Keep the placeholder for an example (e.g., name@example.com), not the label itself.
• Ensure the label text is specific (e.g., “Email address” not just “Email”).

<label for="email">Email address</label>
<input id="email" type="email" autocomplete="email" placeholder="name@example.com" />