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Ver. 2.2.0

Labels and legends headings

Whenever you design a form, you should start by splitting it across multiple pages with each page containing just one thing, for example:

  • one piece of information you’re telling a user
  • one decision they have to make
  • one question they have to answer

This helps users focus and understand what’s being asked of them.

When you’re asking just one question on a page, you can make the question the page’s heading. Your page heading will then most likely be the same as the <label> or <legend> for the input.

For example, on a page that only asks users for their postcode, the question ‘What is your postcode’ would be both the page heading and the most logical <label> for your text input.

Labels as page headings

To set the contents of a label as the page heading, you need to put the <label> tag inside the <h1> tag.

Example

Hint

Sample HTML Code

<form action="" class="govcy-form" novalidate>
<div class="govcy-form-control">
<h1><label class="govcy-label" for="in1">Label</label></h1>
<span class="govcy-hint">Hint</span>
<input type="text" class="govcy-text-input" id="in1">
</div>
</form>

Legends as page headings

To set the contents of a legend as the page heading, you need to put the <legend> tag outside the <h1> tag.

Example

Do you agree?

Sample HTML Code

<form action="" class="govcy-form" novalidate>
<fieldset class="govcy-fieldset">
<legend class="govcy-legend"><h1>Do you agree?</h1></legend>
<div class="govcy-form-control">
<label class="govcy-radio">Yes
<input class="govcy-radio-input" type="radio" name="radio">
<span class="govcy-radio-checked"></span>
</label>
<label class="govcy-radio">No
<input class="govcy-radio-input" type="radio" name="radio">
<span class="govcy-radio-checked"></span>
</label>
</div>
</fieldset>
</form>