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An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Theme:

Design system switcher

Version:

Design system switcher

Theme:

Design system switcher

Version:

Design system switcher

Inline Error

Inline errors give validation feedback for specific form fields.

Examples

Guidance

  • Inline errors are built in to all design-system form fields but can be used on their own to create custom fields.
  • Inline errors should sit either directly above or below the input, depending on the theme defaults.
  • Visually align inline validation messages with the input fields, so people using screen magnifiers can read them quickly.
  • The form field should have an aria-describedby attribute that references the id of the error message.

Guidelines

Content

  • Describe what the user still needs to do in a mandatory field that has been left incomplete or unanswered, or answered incorrectly.
  • Repeat what the form label is asking the user to do, but with slightly more detail.
  • Use the fewest words possible (i.e., don't use "please").
  • Use sentence case.
  • End with a period.

Accessibility

General accessibility

  • Inline error text should be outside of the label element.
  • The form field should have an aria-describedby attribute that references the id of the error message.
  • Inline error text should meet size and contrast requirements.

Accessibility Testing

Screen reader testing

  • When the input field gets focus, its label should be read first and then its hint after a slight delay.

Code

React

Review Storybook for React guidance of this component.

Web Component

Go to Storybook for Web Component guidance of this component.

Component maturity

For more information about how we tested and validated our work for each checklist item, read our component maturity documentation.

Accessibility

  • Color

    Meets AA color contrast standards for accessibility and color blindness.
    Complete
  • Forced Colors Mode (FCM)

    While using FCM the components text is legible and improves readability.
    Complete
  • WCAG 2.1 Level AA Conformance

    All Axe checks for WCAG AA compliance have passed.
    Complete
  • Screen readers

    VoiceOver, NVDA, and JAWS screen readers provide concise communication and interaction.
    Complete
  • Keyboard navigation

    Component is fully navigable with a keyboard.
    Not applicable

Code

  • Storybook

    Component has stories to cover all defined props.
    Complete
  • Responsive

    Component designed to work in all responsive breakpoints.
    Complete
  • Spanish translations

    Includes Spanish translations for default text content.
    Complete

Tokens

  • Code

    Tokens implemented in code.
    Complete
  • Design

    Tokens implemented in Figma.
    Incomplete

Learn More