Writing Accessible Form-Group Legends
Writing Accessible Form-Group Legends replaces the preliminary authentication-instructions slot with a distinct writing task directly supported by W3C’s form-grouping guidance.
Write form-group legends as short headings that identify what the related controls have in common, and keep the individual labels self-explanatory.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
This page covers legend text; fieldset markup, ARIA grouping, and control-label association are implementation concerns covered separately.
Further guidance
Content
Write a concise legend that identifies the shared question or attribute for the group, while keeping each individual control label understandable on its own.
Practical Application
Write a short legend that states the shared question or attribute for a group of related controls, while keeping each individual option label understandable on its own.
Purpose
A short, meaningful group legend gives users context for related controls without forcing repeated or confusing wording.
Reader Check
Does the legend provide context that applies to every control in the group without forcing users to combine fragments to understand each option?
Worked Example
Example: Use the legend “Preferred contact method” with option labels “Email,” “Phone,” and “Text message.”
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Grouping Controls — W3C WAI (opens in a new tab)World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) · W3C WAI guidance for concise legends that identify related groups of form controls.