Perceivable · Level AA · Introduced in WCAG 2.1
WCAG 1.3.5: Identify Input Purpose
Published by whatisADA / Grow Wild Agency · Updated
What this criterion means
For fields collecting information about the user, identify the expected purpose programmatically when it appears in WCAG's input-purpose list and the technology supports it. HTML autocomplete tokens are a common implementation.
A practical example
A checkout labels a field “Street address” and uses autocomplete="street-address". A second section uses shipping or billing tokens to distinguish addresses instead of treating every text field as a generic input.
How to check it
- Inventory fields asking for the user's name, address, contact or payment information.
- Match eligible fields to the standard input-purpose tokens and inspect their autocomplete values.
- Check that token combinations accurately describe the field, including shipping or billing context where needed.
What can be missed
A correct visible label does not replace machine-readable purpose. The requirement is limited to eligible user-information purposes; do not invent autocomplete values for unrelated search or administrative fields.
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These are your observations, not automated results or a conformance certificate. A complete evaluation needs appropriate scope, supported technologies, all applicable criteria and relevant page states.
Primary sources and scope
This is independent implementation guidance with original examples. The linked standard contains the full definitions, exceptions and conformance requirements. A criterion or checklist alone does not establish legal applicability or whole-site conformance.