Carbon Design System

Text input

Stable
Last updated Sep 30, 2026
Carbon Core

    Text inputs enable users to enter free-form text for short and long-form entries, supporting a wide range of data input needs.

    Text input

    What Carbon provides

    Carbon bakes keyboard operation into its components, improving the experience of blind users and others who operate via the keyboard. Carbon incorporates many other accessibility considerations, some of which are described below.

    Keyboard navigation

    Carbon’s text inputs and text areas replicate the default HTML component operation. Each input field is a tab stop, as are any preceding information icons (which open with Enter/Space and close with Esc). For password inputs, Carbon provides a keyboard-operable ability to toggle the password value’s visibility using Enter or Space.

    Example of text input keyboard navigation

    Each input is a tab stop, as are any information icons.

    Keyboard interaction

    On focus, users can type directly into the input field. Any existing text in the input is highlighted on focus and will be replaced when the user begins typing. (Existing text in a text area is not highlighted on focus; instead the cursor is placed at the start or the user’s prior point of interaction.) Users can interact inside text inputs and text areas using standard arrow keys and modifiers (Ctrl for Windows, Option for Mac).

    Example of keyboard operation in text area

    Users can move around in text inputs and text areas using arrows keys and modifiers.

    Labeling and helper text

    Carbon programmatically surfaces both the input’s label and any helper text to assistive technologies such as screen readers. Any error messages for text inputs are also accessibly revealed.

    Date of release label and date input helper text are shown as being accessibly provided

    Labels and helper text are accessibly provided.

    Development considerations

    Keep these considerations in mind if you are modifying Carbon or creating a custom component.

    • Labels are properly associated with inputs using the for attribute.
    • Helper text is surfaced to assistive technology through aria-describedby.

    Accessibility testing status

    Latest version: 1.114.0 | Framework: React (@carbon/react)

    ComponentAccessibility testStatusLink to source code
    Text InputTest(s) that ensure the initial render state of a component is accessible.Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.GitHub link
    Tests that ensure additional states of the component are accessible. This could be interactive states of a component or its multiple variants.Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
    Tests that ensure focus is properly managed, and all interactive functions of a component have a proper keyboard-accessible equivalent.Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
    This manual testing ensures that the visual information on the screen is properly conveyed and read correctly by screen readers such as JAWS, VoiceOver, and NVDA.A human has manually tested this component, e.g. screen reader testing.
    Fluid Text InputTest(s) that ensure the initial render state of a component is accessible.Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
    Tests that ensure additional states of the component are accessible. This could be interactive states of a component or its multiple variants.Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
    Tests that ensure focus is properly managed, and all interactive functions of a component have a proper keyboard-accessible equivalent.Passes all automated tests with no reported accessibility violations.
    This manual testing ensures that the visual information on the screen is properly conveyed and read correctly by screen readers such as JAWS, VoiceOver, and NVDA.A human has manually tested this component, e.g. screen reader testing.
    Learn more about tag and test meaningView all component accessibility status

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