Should I never ever use only placeholders in forms?

1. Should you use placeholder text in forms?
2. Should I use placeholder?
3. Why are placeholders important?
4. Do screen readers read placeholder text?

Should you use placeholder text in forms?

Placeholder text can be used as an attribute for almost every HTML input type, and misguided designers and developers don't hesitate. It is tempting to provide text help for complex forms or omit input labels to improve aesthetics. However, employing placeholder text to do so causes many usability issues.

Should I use placeholder?

Avoid Providing Instructions Using a Placeholder Attribute

As placeholders disappear when the user starts filling in the form, users might miss critical information. For example, password instructions should not be provided using a placeholder attribute.

Why are placeholders important?

Placeholders are frequently used to provide important input formatting instructions or are used in place of a more appropriate label element (more on that in a bit).

Do screen readers read placeholder text?

Assistive technologies, such as screen readers, do not treat placeholder text as labels.