Icon without a visible label
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Rule · bucket: judgment · severity: note · detector: none · since: v0.1.0
Section: Things to avoid
Group: States and interaction

Forbidden:
  A toolbar of icon-only buttons whose meaning depends on recognising the glyph

Instead:
  A visible text label beside the icon, or the icon plus label on the primary path.

This is **not** the same problem as `E-34`. An `aria-label` serves a screen reader and does nothing for a sighted user with low computer literacy, or anyone meeting an unfamiliar glyph. Both are required.
Icon-only is acceptable for a small set of near-universal glyphs and in `operator`, where repetition builds recognition — and even there, on first-run surfaces the label stays. Close, search and menu are examples, not the whole list: the test is whether most readers would name the glyph the same way without the label. A sun and moon for the theme, or a service's own widely known mark linking to it, usually pass; a funnel, a sparkle or a lightning bolt does not. An icon-only control still carries its name in text a screen reader reads (`E-34`).