Give every form field a name
Paste your form. See what a screen reader says for each box.
3 of 4 fields need a label.
<input type="text" name="your-name" placeholder="Name">A screen reader says: Often just “text box”
Change Only grey hint text. Some screen readers skip it, and it disappears as soon as someone starts typing.
Label it “Name”. Paste this instead:
<label>Name <input type="text" name="your-name" placeholder="Name"> </label><input type="email" name="your-email" placeholder="Email">A screen reader says: Often just “text box”
Change Only grey hint text. Some screen readers skip it, and it disappears as soon as someone starts typing.
Label it “Email”. Paste this instead:
<label>Email <input type="email" name="your-email" placeholder="Email"> </label><select name="service">A screen reader says: “drop-down”
Change No name. The first choice in the list isn’t a name, so screen reader users don’t know what they’re picking.
Label it “Service”. Paste this instead:
<label>Service <select name="service">…</select> </label><textarea id="msg" name="your-message">A screen reader says: “Message, text box”
Fine Has a label. Screen readers say it when someone reaches the field.
Rather not open your page’s code? Type your address instead; the free scan checks this too.
Grey hint text isn’t a label
37 of the 546 local business websites we scanned had a form field with no name, 26 of them on WordPress. Where we saved the code (28 sites), 11 had a drop-down with no name, 8 a search box, and 7 a Contact Form 7 form with hint text in place of labels.
From our own scans in October 2026. We picked these sites because each had at least one serious issue, so the numbers describe sites with problems, not every site.
Say what to type
Without a label, a screen reader says just “text box” or “drop-down”. The hint inside the box also vanishes as soon as anyone types, so people forget which box they’re in.
Name and email boxes with grey hint text only
“Name”, “Email”, as labels above the boxes
A drop-down that starts with “Pick one”
“Service you need”
The search box in the menu
“Search” (it can stay hidden if there’s a search button)
Check-in and check-out dates
“Check-in date”, “Check-out date”
A sign-up check box with no words next to it
“Send me your newsletter”
Real estate filters
“Minimum price”, “Bedrooms”, “Property type”
Where to fix it
Most of the forms we found came from a WordPress plugin.
WordPress with Contact Form 7
Contact → Contact Forms → open the form. Put the words inside a label around each field, for example
<label> Your email [email* your-email] </label>, then Save. That is how the plugin’s own starting form is written.WordPress with another form plugin
Open the form in the plugin, click a field and look in its settings for an option that hides the label. Switch it off, or type a label if it’s empty.
A form pasted in as code
Any builder: open the code block that holds the form and paste the fixed code from the checker over each field.
More WordPress fixes are in the WordPress guide.
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Easiest first step
Done for you. We fix the 10 most important issues from your scan, then re-scan to show the change.
- Fixes made by a person, not a widget
- Works with WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Shopify & more
- Before-and-after report
- Anything we can’t change on your platform comes with step-by-step instructions
Find every field that needs one
The free scan lists each unnamed field on your home page. Then try the 15-minute checklist. Automated scans catch a portion of accessibility issues and are not a legal compliance certification.