Labels trigger states for associated inputs

Published at: Jun 12 2017
Updated at: Mar 20 2022
Reading time: 1min

This post is part of my Today I learned series in which I share all my web development learnings.

My friend Tom shared a fascinating link. Roma Komarov describes that when you define pseudo-classes like :hover and :active for an input element, these styles are also applied to the element when an associated label is e.g. hovered.

See this behavior in action below.

<p>Hover the label and see the input change its background.<p>
<label for="input">Name</label>
<input id="input" /><p>Hover the label and see the input change its background.<p>
<label for="input">Name</label>
<input id="input" />

body {
 color: white;
}

label {
 display: block;
 margin: 1em 0;
}

input:hover {
 background: purple;
}body {
 color: white;
}

label {
 display: block;
 margin: 1em 0;
}

input:hover {
 background: purple;
}

Preview

The input field turns purple whenever you hover its associated label. 🤯

Check out the examples in the article yourself. That's wild stuff!

Today I learned that the same behavior applies to input click handlers triggered when you click on an associated label.

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About the author

Stefan standing in the park in front of a green background

Frontend nerd with over ten years of experience, "Today I Learned" blogger, conference speaker, Tiny helpers maintainer, and DevRel at Checkly.

Labels trigger states for associated inputs

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