pattern-library checked
GOV.UK Design System Error summary component
Documents top-of-page validation summaries with focus behavior, linked error items, and wording consistency with field messages.
Pattern Decisions This Source Supports
| Pattern | Supported decision | Required contract | Claim note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disabled button with no explanation | Flag this anti-pattern when an unavailable action has no visible requirement, cause, owner, or next step near the control. | Users can discover why the action is unavailable without hovering a disabled control or guessing from color alone. | GOV.UK error summary guidance supports linked failed-submit recovery when multiple requirements need correction. |
| Disabled controls without recovery | Flag this anti-pattern when a disabled control blocks a task and the surrounding UI does not provide a reachable next step. | Users can discover the cause of unavailability without activating or hovering the disabled control itself. | GOV.UK error summary guidance supports linked recovery after failed submit. |
| Error summary | Choose an error summary when submit-time validation can leave one or more errors across a page or step. | The summary appears after failed submit where keyboard and screen-reader users can perceive it. | GOV.UK error summary guidance requires a top-of-page summary, keyboard focus, linked error items, and matching field messages. |
| Inline validation | Choose inline validation when one field has a correctable format, missing-value, range, or requirement problem. | The message names the field problem and the correction in plain language. | GOV.UK error summary guidance is used only to distinguish submitted-page summaries from local inline field recovery. |
| Required field hidden by conditional logic | Flag this anti-pattern when a required field can block submit while it is hidden, collapsed, disabled, off-screen, absent from the current route, or disconnected from its trigger. | Selecting a trigger that creates a required follow-up reveals that follow-up immediately in logical DOM and visual order. | GOV.UK error summary guidance supports focusable summaries with links to visible field errors. |
| Single-page form | Choose a single-page form when the task has a short related set of fields that users should review together. | Tab order follows the same top-to-bottom order users see on screen. | GOV.UK error summary guidance supports linked recovery for failed single-page form submissions. |
| Validation that clears user input | Flag this anti-pattern when validation failure, failed submit, server rejection, formatting, retry, reload, or route return clears safe user-entered values. | Validation messages name the problem and leave the user's value in place for editing. | GOV.UK error summary guidance supports linked submit-time recovery after the form is rendered with field errors. |
| Warning text | Choose warning text when one severe consequence needs to be noticed before the user acts or fails to act. | The warning appears in the reading order before the action or answer it qualifies. | GOV.UK error summary guidance supports using linked summaries for submitted validation recovery instead of warning text. |
Evidence Role
This source is treated as pattern-library evidence. Use it to validate the decision rules above, not as a visual style reference.
Publisher: Government Digital Service. Last checked: .