Names and roles
Input buttons need a value
- Rule:
input-button-name - Severity: Critical
- WCAG level A
Why it matters
An <input type="submit"> with an empty value is announced as "button" alone — at the end of a form, with no way to know what submitting does.
How to fix it
- Set value to the action ("Place order", "Search").
- Use aria-label only when the design genuinely cannot show text.
- Prefer <button> over <input>: it can hold markup and is easier to label.
In markup
<input type="submit" value=""><input type="submit" value="Place order">The requirement behind it
This rule is one way of failing the following WCAG 2.2 success criteria. The W3C, which writes the standard, explains each of them:
- 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (opens in new tab) — WCAG level A
Further reading
Deque University on input-button-name (opens in new tab)
Deque maintains axe-core, the open-source engine our scanner runs. Their page documents the rule as the engine implements it.
Automated checks find failures a browser can prove. They cannot judge whether a caption is accurate, whether an alt text is useful, or whether a page can be operated end to end with a keyboard — those need a person.