placeholder text in input controls

Dear all,

In order to make text input fields accessible we traditionally dvise to use 
the label element to link the control with its visible label.

Now some sites start to use placeholder text instead of visible labels next 
to the control. I don't see this technique in WCAG2.0. Do you consider this 
sufficient to comply with success criterium 3.3.2 labels or instructions?

Example:
<input title="What is your first name?" type="text" name="f" 
placeholder="First name">
<input title="What is your last name?" type="text" name="l" 
placeholder="Last name">

The placeholder text is visible in the control and disappears when the field 
receives focus. Keyboard users see the text until they actually need it. 
Title attributes are not displayed on keyboard focus, only on mouse over.

JAWS11 reads the title and not the placeholder attribute.

Please advise whether the above example is ok or not.

Thanks

Bart Simons
-- 
AnySurfer - Quality mark for accessible websites in Belgium
http://www.anysurfer.be

Received on Friday, 9 December 2011 13:23:41 UTC