Components

Fieldset

Use the fieldset component to group related form inputs.

When to use this component

Use the fieldset component when you need to show a relationship between multiple form inputs. For example, you may need to group a set of text inputs into a single fieldset when asking for an address in your service.

Open this example in a new tab: address group – fieldset
HTML
<fieldset class="govuk-fieldset">
  <legend class="govuk-fieldset__legend govuk-fieldset__legend--l">
    <h1 class="govuk-fieldset__heading">
      What is your address?
    </h1>
  </legend>
  <div class="govuk-form-group">
    <label class="govuk-label" for="address-line-1">
      Address line 1
    </label>
    <input class="govuk-input" id="address-line-1" name="addressLine1" type="text" autocomplete="address-line1">
  </div>
  <div class="govuk-form-group">
    <label class="govuk-label" for="address-line-2">
      Address line 2 (optional)
    </label>
    <input class="govuk-input" id="address-line-2" name="addressLine2" type="text" autocomplete="address-line2">
  </div>
  <div class="govuk-form-group">
    <label class="govuk-label" for="address-town">
      Town or city
    </label>
    <input class="govuk-input govuk-!-width-two-thirds" id="address-town" name="addressTown" type="text" autocomplete="address-level2">
  </div>
  <div class="govuk-form-group">
    <label class="govuk-label" for="address-postcode">
      Postcode
    </label>
    <input class="govuk-input govuk-input--width-10" id="address-postcode" name="addressPostcode" type="text" autocomplete="postal-code">
  </div>
</fieldset>
Nunjucks
Nunjucks macro options

Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.

Some options are required for the macro to work; these are marked as “Required” in the option description.

If you’re using Nunjucks macros in production with “html” options, or ones ending with “html”, you must sanitise the HTML to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

Primary options
Name Type Description
describedBy string One or more element IDs to add to the aria-describedby attribute, used to provide additional descriptive information for screenreader users.
legend object The legend for the fieldset component. See macro options for legend.
classes string Classes to add to the fieldset container.
role string Optional ARIA role attribute.
attributes object HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the fieldset container.
html string HTML to use/render within the fieldset element.
caller nunjucks-block Not strictly a parameter but Nunjucks code convention. Using a call block enables you to call a macro with all the text inside the tag. This is helpful if you want to pass a lot of content into a macro. To use it, you will need to wrap the entire fieldset component in a call block.
Options for legend object
Name Type Description
text string Required. If html is set, this is not required. Text to use within the legend. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored.
html string Required. If text is set, this is not required. HTML to use within the legend. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored.
classes string Classes to add to the legend.
isPageHeading boolean Whether the legend also acts as the heading for the page. 
{% from "govuk/components/input/macro.njk" import govukInput %}
{% from "govuk/components/fieldset/macro.njk" import govukFieldset %}

{% call govukFieldset({
  legend: {
    text: "What is your address?",
    classes: "govuk-fieldset__legend--l",
    isPageHeading: true
  }
}) %}

  {{ govukInput({
    label: {
      text: "Address line 1"
    },
    id: "address-line-1",
    name: "addressLine1",
    autocomplete: "address-line1"
  }) }}

  {{ govukInput({
    label: {
      text: "Address line 2 (optional)"
    },
    id: "address-line-2",
    name: "addressLine2",
    autocomplete: "address-line2"
  }) }}

  {{ govukInput({
    label: {
      text: "Town or city"
    },
    classes: "govuk-!-width-two-thirds",
    id: "address-town",
    name: "addressTown",
    autocomplete: "address-level2"
  }) }}

  {{ govukInput({
    label: {
      text: "Postcode"
    },
    classes: "govuk-input--width-10",
    id: "address-postcode",
    name: "addressPostcode",
    autocomplete: "postal-code"
  }) }}

{% endcall %}

If you’re using the examples or macros for a Radios component, Checkboxes component or Date input component, the fieldset will already be included.

How it works

The first element inside a fieldset must be a legend which describes the group of inputs. This could be a question, such as ‘What is your current address?’ or a statement like ‘Personal details’.

If you’re asking just one question per page in your service as recommended, you can set the contents of the <legend> as the page heading, as shown in the example below. This is good practice as it means that users of screen readers will only hear the contents once.

Read more about why and how to set legends as headings.

Open this example in a new tab: fieldset
HTML
<fieldset class="govuk-fieldset">
  <legend class="govuk-fieldset__legend govuk-fieldset__legend--l">
    <h1 class="govuk-fieldset__heading">
      Legend as page heading
    </h1>
  </legend>
</fieldset>
Nunjucks
Nunjucks macro options

Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.

Some options are required for the macro to work; these are marked as “Required” in the option description.

If you’re using Nunjucks macros in production with “html” options, or ones ending with “html”, you must sanitise the HTML to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

Primary options
Name Type Description
describedBy string One or more element IDs to add to the aria-describedby attribute, used to provide additional descriptive information for screenreader users.
legend object The legend for the fieldset component. See macro options for legend.
classes string Classes to add to the fieldset container.
role string Optional ARIA role attribute.
attributes object HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the fieldset container.
html string HTML to use/render within the fieldset element.
caller nunjucks-block Not strictly a parameter but Nunjucks code convention. Using a call block enables you to call a macro with all the text inside the tag. This is helpful if you want to pass a lot of content into a macro. To use it, you will need to wrap the entire fieldset component in a call block.
Options for legend object
Name Type Description
text string Required. If html is set, this is not required. Text to use within the legend. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored.
html string Required. If text is set, this is not required. HTML to use within the legend. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored.
classes string Classes to add to the legend.
isPageHeading boolean Whether the legend also acts as the heading for the page. 
{% from "govuk/components/fieldset/macro.njk" import govukFieldset %}

{{ govukFieldset({
  legend: {
    text: "Legend as page heading",
    classes: "govuk-fieldset__legend--l",
    isPageHeading: true
  }
}) }}

On Question pages in your service containing a group of inputs, including the question as the legend helps users of screen readers to understand that the inputs are all related to that question.

Include general help text in the legend if it would help the user fill in the form, and you cannot write it as hint text. However, try to keep it as short as possible.

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