HTML <label> Tag
The HTML <label> tag represents a caption to a user interface control (usually a form control, however, it could be any phrasing content).
The <label> element allows you to attach a caption/label to a control so that the user knows what the control is for. For example, an input field that accepts the user's first name might have a label of "First Name: ".
Some browsers enable users to select a radio button or checkbox option by clicking on its <label> element.
Syntax
The <label> tag is written as <label></label> with the label text inserted between the start and end tags.
You can use the <label> tag in one of two ways. You can enclose the associated control within the <label> element's opening and closing tags. Or you can reference the associated element by it's ID using the for attribute.
Like this:
Or this:
Examples
Basic tag usage
In this example, the <label> tag surrounds a radio button form control (<input> element).
The for Attribute
This example has the same result as the above example. The difference is that, in this example, the <label> element doesn't enclose the form control (the form control is not nested inside the <label> tag, like in the above example). Instead, it uses the for attribute to associate the <label> tag with a control.
Attributes
Attributes can be added to an HTML element to provide more information about how the element should appear or behave.
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The <label> element accepts the following attributes.
Element-Specific Attributes
This table shows the attributes that are specific to the <label> tag/element.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| for | Specifies the input control that this label is for. This value must be the same as the value in the input control's "id" attribute. |
| form | Specifies the ID of a form to which this control belongs.
Possible values: [The ID of a form element in the element's owner |
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML5 elements. Therefore, you can use these attributes with the <label> tag , as well as with all other HTML tags.
- accesskey
- class
- contenteditable
- contextmenu
- dir
- draggable
- dropzone
- hidden
- id
- inert
- itemid
- itemprop
- itemref
- itemscope
- itemtype
- lang
- spellcheck
- style
- tabindex
- title
- translate
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
Below are the standard HTML5 event handler content attributes.
Again, you can use any of these with the <label> element, as well as any other HTML5 element.
- onabort
- oncancel
- onblur
- oncanplay
- oncanplaythrough
- onchange
- onclick
- oncontextmenu
- ondblclick
- ondrag
- ondragend
- ondragenter
- ondragexit
- ondragleave
- ondragover
- ondragstart
- ondrop
- ondurationchange
- onemptied
- onended
- onerror
- onfocus
- onformchange
- onforminput
- oninput
- oninvalid
- onkeydown
- onkeypress
- onkeyup
- onload
- onloadeddata
- onloadedmetadata
- onloadstart
- onmousedown
- onmousemove
- onmouseout
- onmouseover
- onmouseup
- onmousewheel
- onpause
- onplay
- onplaying
- onprogress
- onratechange
- onreadystatechange
- onscroll
- onseeked
- onseeking
- onselect
- onshow
- onstalled
- onsubmit
- onsuspend
- ontimeupdate
- onvolumechange
- onwaiting
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.
Differences Between HTML 4 & HTML 5
The form attribute is new in HTML5.
To see more detail on the two versions see HTML5 <label> Tag and HTML4 <label> Tag. Also check out the links to the official specifications below.
Template
Here's a template for the <label> tag with all available attributes for the tag (based on HTML5). These are grouped into attribute types, each type separated by a space. In many cases, you will probably only need one or two (if any) attributes. Simply remove the attributes you don't need.
For more information on attributes for this tag, see HTML5 <label> Tag and HTML4 <label> Tag.
Tag Details
For more details about the <label> tag, see HTML5 <label> Tag and HTML4 <label> Tag.
Specifications
Here are the official specifications for the <label> element.
- HTML5 Specification (W3C)
- HTML Living Standard (WHATWG)
- Current W3C Draft (the next version that is currently being worked on)
- HTML 4 (W3C)
What's the Difference?
W3C creates "snapshot" specifications that don't change once defined. So the HTML5 specification won't change once it becomes an official recommendation. WHATWG on the other hand, develops a "living standard" that is updated on a regular basis. In general, you will probably find that the HTML living standard will be more closely aligned to the current W3C draft than to the HTML5 specification.