Icon without a visible label
- 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.
What this rule looks like
Why this rule
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).
- Kind
- Rule
- Section
- Things to avoid
- Group
- States and interaction
- Bucket
- judgment
- Severity
- note
- Since
- v0.1.0