Technique H98:Using HTML 5.2 autocomplete attributes

Applicability

All HTML form fields that map to the HTML 5.2 autofill tokens.

This technique relates to 1.3.5: Identify Input Purpose (Sufficient).

Description

The objective of this technique is to programmatically link a pre-defined and published taxonomic term to the input, so that the inputs can also be machine-interpreted. This way the input will always have a common, referable and identifiable value associated to it, no matter what language is used, or what visible on-screen term is used to label the input. Then it can be further customized or otherwise machine-manipulated to help users.

The technique works by adding the appropriate autocomplete token to each form field on the form to make the identified inputs Programmatically Determinable. This will help people with cognitive disabilities who may not immediately know the purpose of the field because the label used by the author is not familiar to them. When inputs have been programmatically assigned, third party plugins and software can manipulate these form fields to make them more accessible to people with cognitive disabilities. For instance, a plugin could detect an autocomplete token with the text string "tel" and insert a telephone icon. It will further enable third party software to swap out the existing labels for text labels that the user finds more familiar. For instance, it could change "Given Name" to "First Name".

The autocomplete attribute also improves the browser's ability to pre-populate form fields with user-preferred values. When the input has been properly "tagged" with the known token value, the value entered by the user is stored locally on the host machine and associated with the token value for reuse. It helps those with dexterity disabilities who have trouble typing, those who may need more time, and anyone who wishes to reduce effort to fill out a form.

The autocomplete attribute allows the browser to do a pattern match against a list of values locally stored with the browser, and supplies the appropriate corresponding value when the input is programmatically tagged. This is a user setting that can be turned on or off, or modified by the end user. This reduces typing and reliance on memory because it uses stored values to fill in the fields.

It's important to note the Success Criterion Identify Input Purpose and autocomplete attribute only place requirements on input fields collecting information about the user.

For the Success Criterion, it is assumed that the autocomplete attribute is not used on form fields that do not correspond to an autocomplete field described in the HTML autocomplete attribute specification. If the autocomplete field is used to describe a "custom" taxonomy, rather than that described in the specification, this rule may produce incorrect results.

Examples

<form method="post" action="step2">
  <div>
    <label for="fname">First Name</label>
    <input autocomplete="given-name" id="fname" type="text">
  </div>
  <div>
    <label for="lname">Last Name</label>
    <input autocomplete="family-name" id="lname" type="text">
  </div>
  <div>
    <label for="cc-num">Credit card number:</label>
    <input autocomplete="cc-number" id="cc-num" type="text">
  </div>
  <div>
    <label for="exp-date">Expiry Date:</label>
    <input autocomplete="cc-exp" id="exp-date" type="month">
  </div>
  <div>
    <input type="submit" value="Continue">
  </div>
</form>

Tests