The element “label” must not appear as a descendant of the “a” element.

The <a> element is classified as interactive content, meaning it expects user interaction (clicking to navigate). The <label> element is also interactive — clicking a label activates or focuses its associated form control. When a <label> is nested inside an <a>, the browser faces an ambiguous situation: should a click navigate to the link’s URL, or should it focus/activate the associated form control? The HTML specification resolves this by simply disallowing the nesting entirely.

According to the WHATWG HTML Living Standard, the content model of the <a> element is “transparent” but must not contain any interactive content. Since <label> is interactive content, it is not permitted as a descendant of <a> at any depth.

Beyond being invalid HTML, this nesting causes real problems:

• Accessibility: Screen readers may announce conflicting roles, confusing users who rely on assistive technology. The purpose of the element becomes unclear — is it a link or a form label?
• Unpredictable behavior: Different browsers may handle the click event differently, leading to inconsistent user experiences.
• Broken form association: The <label>‘s for attribute may not work as intended when the label is trapped inside a link.

The fix is straightforward: if you only need to style text inside a link, use a <span> or another non-interactive element instead of <label>. If you genuinely need both a link and a label, they should be separate, sibling elements rather than nested.

Examples

❌ Invalid: <label> inside <a>

<a href="/settings">
  <label>Account Settings</label>
</a>

This triggers the validation error because <label> is interactive content nested inside <a>.

✅ Fixed: Replace <label> with <span>

<a href="/settings">
  <span>Account Settings</span>
</a>

If the <label> was only used for styling purposes, a <span> with a CSS class achieves the same visual result without violating the specification.

❌ Invalid: <label> deeply nested inside <a>

<a href="/profile">
  <div>
    <label for="username">Edit Username</label>
  </div>
</a>

The rule applies to all descendants, not just direct children. This is still invalid.

✅ Fixed: Separate the link and label

<label for="username">Edit Username</label>
<a href="/profile">View Profile</a>

When you need both a functional label and a link, keep them as siblings rather than nesting one inside the other.

✅ Fixed: Using <span> with a class for styling

<a href="/dashboard">
  <span class="label-style">Dashboard</span>
</a>

.label-style {
  font-weight: bold;
  text-transform: uppercase;
}

This preserves any visual styling you need while keeping the HTML valid and the interaction model unambiguous.

Learn more:

MDN Reference

HTML label element

→

MDN Reference

HTML a element

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WHATWG Spec

HTML forms specification

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