Direct answer: The 25 homepages contain 448 <input> elements, of which 388 are hidden/submit/button-type fields (86.6%) and 60 are visible inputs across 15 sites. Of those 60, only 7 have a programmatic label (aria-label / aria-labelledby / title / label-for, 11.7%), 26 rely on a placeholder, and 27 have neither a label nor a placeholder (45.0%).
Nine sites expose 13 search-like inputs (detected by type, name or placeholder), and none uses type="search".
Method: read input and label from caches
The study reuses the 25 homepage caches from study 4 (2026-10-31 to 11-01) with zero network requests. It reads every input, separates non-visible types (hidden/submit/button/reset/image) from visible inputs, and counts labels from aria-label, aria-labelledby, title, or an id matched by <label for>.
| Item | Rule | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Non-visible | hidden / submit / button / reset / image | Business purpose not judged |
| Visible input | Other types, text by default | Checkbox reported separately |
| Labeled | aria-label / aria-labelledby / title / label-for | Placeholder is not a label |
| Search-like | type=search, name=q/s/keyword or placeholder with search wording | Custom names may be missed |
Result: visible inputs are under one seventh of all inputs
| Type | Count | Share of 448 |
|---|---|---|
| Non-visible fields | 388 | 86.6% |
| Visible inputs | 60 | 13.4% |
| — text | 56 | 12.5% |
| — checkbox | 4 | 0.9% |
| Accessible hint | Count | Share of 60 |
|---|---|---|
| Programmatic label | 7 | 11.7% |
| Placeholder only | 26 | 43.3% |
| Neither | 27 | 45.0% |
A placeholder disappears on input and cannot reliably replace a label; the 27 fields with neither have no name for a screen reader.
| Site | Visible inputs | Labeled | Neither |
|---|---|---|---|
| E02 | 23 | 0 | 17 |
| E03 | 7 | 4 | 0 |
| E26 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| E04 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| E17 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| E11 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Fifteen sites have visible inputs and ten have none; only E03 and E04 have any labeled field. Search-like inputs sit on nine sites: three on E03, two each on E08 and E11, one elsewhere.
What this means for acceptance
- A placeholder is not a label. 26 inputs rely on placeholder text that disappears on input.
- 27 inputs have no hint at all. That is 45% of visible inputs and the first thing to fix.
- Search boxes need type=search and a label. Nine sites search, none uses the search type.
- Many hidden fields is not an error. The 388 hidden inputs may come from the CMS or anti-forgery fields; necessity is not judged.
- Fix labels at template level. Only two sites have any labeled field, so this is a template gap.
Limits
- Static HTML only: no JavaScript; script-generated forms are invisible.
- Limited label detection: complex ARIA or visual associations are not parsed.
- Search heuristic: type/name/placeholder matching may miss custom names.
- Necessity not judged: a hidden-field count is not a defect by itself.
- 25-site pilot: no industry claim.
Data and reproduction
Anonymised data: equipment-homepage-forms-2026.csv (25 rows × 10 columns: inputs, hidden, visible, text, checkbox, labeled, placeholder-only, neither, search-like). The repository keeps docs/research/2026-11-homepage-forms.csv.
Parser: scripts/home_form_probe.py; unit tests: scripts/test_home_form_probe.py (5 tests, no network). Run:
python -m unittest scripts.test_home_form_probe
Related: the contact form fields pilot, the contact privacy entry pilot, and the mobile viewport pilot., and the article inquiry-path pilot, and the inquiry path checker, and the homepage inquiry-path pilot
Sources and definitions
- Homepage cache: 25 homepages from study 4 (2026-10-31 to 11-01).
- Inputs: input tags with type/name/placeholder/id/aria attributes.
- Labels: aria-label, aria-labelledby, title or label[for] matching.
- Search-like: type=search, name=q/s/keyword or placeholder with search wording.