Invalid field without an accessible error description

forms/error-unidentified

WCAG success criterion: 3.3.1 (level A)
Outcome class: Hint only. An automated check that by design reports review hints only: its findings are marked for manual review, never as confirmed violations.
Area: Accessibility, Forms & Interaction
Default severity: medium
axe-core rule: input-error-message

Why we flag this

Screen reader users learn that an error exists, but not what it is.

aria-invalid="true" without a description/aria-describedby pointing to a visible error element.

What the rule checks

Scope. Rendered elements with aria-invalid set to any value other than false.

Expectation. Needs review when an element is marked invalid but has no error description (aria-describedby or aria-errormessage pointing at text): a screen reader announces "invalid" without saying what is wrong. A visible message next to the field can still satisfy 3.3.1 without the association (G83), so never a confirmed violation. Unknown values such as "grammar" count as invalid; aria-invalid="false" does not. Native fields and ARIA widgets alike.

Source. WCAG 2.2 SC 3.3.1 Error Identification; WAI-ARIA 1.2 aria-invalid, aria-errormessage, aria-describedby

Detection: shared; needs dom.

Failing example

The check flags this for review. Corpus case forms_errors_groups, element input#err-bare. The page may contain further findings for other rules.

forms_errors_groups.htmlHTML

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Newsletter settings</title>
<style>
  body { font-family: sans-serif; color: #222; background: #fff; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0 16px; }
  a { color: #0050a0; }
  .skip, nav a, .solo { display: inline-block; padding: 12px; min-height: 44px; min-width: 44px; box-sizing: border-box; }
  button, input, select, textarea, [role="button"], [role="textbox"], [role="radio"], [role="link"], [role="searchbox"] {
    display: inline-block; min-height: 44px; min-width: 44px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; }
  input[type="checkbox"], input[type="radio"] { width: 44px; height: 44px; }
  .visually-hidden { position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); white-space: nowrap; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<a class="skip" href="#main">Skip to main content</a>
<header><p>Example Shop</p>
<nav aria-label="Main"><a href="/" aria-current="page">Home</a> <a href="/help">Help</a></nav>
</header>
<main id="main">
<h1>Newsletter settings</h1>
<!-- G2 #783: invalid fields with and without an error description (3.3.1), radio and same-name checkbox sets with and without a group (1.3.1), and form groups with and without a name. -->
<form action="/newsletter" method="post">
  <p><label for="err-bare">Team code</label> <input id="err-bare" name="team" type="text" aria-invalid="true"></p>
  <p><label for="err-grammar">Batch code</label> <input id="err-grammar" name="batch" type="text" aria-invalid="grammar"></p>
  <p><label for="err-desc">Club code</label> <input id="err-desc" name="club" type="text" aria-invalid="true" aria-describedby="err-desc-msg"> <span id="err-desc-msg">Club code must have six characters.</span></p>
  <p><label for="err-msg">League code</label> <input id="err-msg" name="league" type="text" aria-invalid="true" aria-errormessage="err-msg-text"> <span id="err-msg-text">League code is unknown.</span></p>
  <p><label for="err-false">Squad code</label> <input id="err-false" name="squad" type="text" aria-invalid="false"></p>
  <p><span id="motto-label">Team motto</span> <span id="err-aria" role="textbox" contenteditable="true" tabindex="0" aria-labelledby="motto-label" aria-invalid="true"></span></p>

  <p>How often should we write?</p>
  <label><input type="radio" name="freq" id="freq-daily" value="d"> Daily</label>
  <label><input type="radio" name="freq" id="freq-weekly" value="w"> Weekly</label>
  <fieldset><legend>Format</legend>
    <label><input type="radio" name="fmt" id="fmt-html" value="h"> HTML</label>
    <label><input type="radio" name="fmt" id="fmt-text" value="t"> Plain text</label>
  </fieldset>
  <p>Large print</p>
  <span role="radio" id="aria-radio-loose" aria-checked="false" tabindex="0">Large print on</span>
  <div role="radiogroup" aria-label="Print size">
    <span role="radio" id="aria-radio-grouped" aria-checked="false" tabindex="0">Normal print</span>
  </div>
  <p>Topics</p>
  <label><input type="checkbox" name="topic" id="topic-bikes" value="b"> Bikes</label>
  <label><input type="checkbox" name="topic" id="topic-tours" value="t"> Tours</label>
  <p><label><input type="checkbox" name="terms" id="terms-single" value="y"> I accept the newsletter terms</label></p>
  <fieldset><legend>Channels</legend>
    <label><input type="checkbox" name="channel" id="channel-mail" value="m"> Letter</label>
    <label><input type="checkbox" name="channel" id="channel-app" value="a"> App</label>
  </fieldset>

  <fieldset id="fs-unnamed"><label><input type="checkbox" name="digest" id="digest" value="y"> Weekly digest</label></fieldset>
  <div role="group" id="grp-unnamed"><label for="grp-in">Promo code</label> <input id="grp-in" name="promo" type="text"></div>
  <div role="group" id="grp-named" aria-label="Delivery days"><label for="grp-named-in">Preferred day</label> <input id="grp-named-in" name="day" type="text"></div>
  <details id="det-group"><summary class="solo">More options</summary><label for="det-in">Referral code</label> <input id="det-in" name="referral" type="text"></details>
  <p><button type="submit">Save settings</button></p>
</form>
</main>
<footer><p>Example Shop, 2026</p></footer>

</body>
</html>

Passing example

The check reports nothing here. Corpus case forms_errors_groups, element input#err-desc. The page may contain further findings for other rules.

forms_errors_groups.htmlHTML

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Newsletter settings</title>
<style>
  body { font-family: sans-serif; color: #222; background: #fff; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0 16px; }
  a { color: #0050a0; }
  .skip, nav a, .solo { display: inline-block; padding: 12px; min-height: 44px; min-width: 44px; box-sizing: border-box; }
  button, input, select, textarea, [role="button"], [role="textbox"], [role="radio"], [role="link"], [role="searchbox"] {
    display: inline-block; min-height: 44px; min-width: 44px; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; }
  input[type="checkbox"], input[type="radio"] { width: 44px; height: 44px; }
  .visually-hidden { position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); white-space: nowrap; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<a class="skip" href="#main">Skip to main content</a>
<header><p>Example Shop</p>
<nav aria-label="Main"><a href="/" aria-current="page">Home</a> <a href="/help">Help</a></nav>
</header>
<main id="main">
<h1>Newsletter settings</h1>
<!-- G2 #783: invalid fields with and without an error description (3.3.1), radio and same-name checkbox sets with and without a group (1.3.1), and form groups with and without a name. -->
<form action="/newsletter" method="post">
  <p><label for="err-bare">Team code</label> <input id="err-bare" name="team" type="text" aria-invalid="true"></p>
  <p><label for="err-grammar">Batch code</label> <input id="err-grammar" name="batch" type="text" aria-invalid="grammar"></p>
  <p><label for="err-desc">Club code</label> <input id="err-desc" name="club" type="text" aria-invalid="true" aria-describedby="err-desc-msg"> <span id="err-desc-msg">Club code must have six characters.</span></p>
  <p><label for="err-msg">League code</label> <input id="err-msg" name="league" type="text" aria-invalid="true" aria-errormessage="err-msg-text"> <span id="err-msg-text">League code is unknown.</span></p>
  <p><label for="err-false">Squad code</label> <input id="err-false" name="squad" type="text" aria-invalid="false"></p>
  <p><span id="motto-label">Team motto</span> <span id="err-aria" role="textbox" contenteditable="true" tabindex="0" aria-labelledby="motto-label" aria-invalid="true"></span></p>

  <p>How often should we write?</p>
  <label><input type="radio" name="freq" id="freq-daily" value="d"> Daily</label>
  <label><input type="radio" name="freq" id="freq-weekly" value="w"> Weekly</label>
  <fieldset><legend>Format</legend>
    <label><input type="radio" name="fmt" id="fmt-html" value="h"> HTML</label>
    <label><input type="radio" name="fmt" id="fmt-text" value="t"> Plain text</label>
  </fieldset>
  <p>Large print</p>
  <span role="radio" id="aria-radio-loose" aria-checked="false" tabindex="0">Large print on</span>
  <div role="radiogroup" aria-label="Print size">
    <span role="radio" id="aria-radio-grouped" aria-checked="false" tabindex="0">Normal print</span>
  </div>
  <p>Topics</p>
  <label><input type="checkbox" name="topic" id="topic-bikes" value="b"> Bikes</label>
  <label><input type="checkbox" name="topic" id="topic-tours" value="t"> Tours</label>
  <p><label><input type="checkbox" name="terms" id="terms-single" value="y"> I accept the newsletter terms</label></p>
  <fieldset><legend>Channels</legend>
    <label><input type="checkbox" name="channel" id="channel-mail" value="m"> Letter</label>
    <label><input type="checkbox" name="channel" id="channel-app" value="a"> App</label>
  </fieldset>

  <fieldset id="fs-unnamed"><label><input type="checkbox" name="digest" id="digest" value="y"> Weekly digest</label></fieldset>
  <div role="group" id="grp-unnamed"><label for="grp-in">Promo code</label> <input id="grp-in" name="promo" type="text"></div>
  <div role="group" id="grp-named" aria-label="Delivery days"><label for="grp-named-in">Preferred day</label> <input id="grp-named-in" name="day" type="text"></div>
  <details id="det-group"><summary class="solo">More options</summary><label for="det-in">Referral code</label> <input id="det-in" name="referral" type="text"></details>
  <p><button type="submit">Save settings</button></p>
</form>
</main>
<footer><p>Example Shop, 2026</p></footer>

</body>
</html>

This page is generated from the rule catalogue and the rule contracts; see therule overview for how the outcome classes are derived.