Character Count

Character count helps users know how much text they can enter when there is a limit on the number of characters.

Text Input with Character Count

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Component Code


<form class="usa-form">
  <div class="usa-character-count">
    <div class="usa-form-group">
      <label class="usa-label" for="with-hint-input">Text input</label>
      <span id="with-hint-input-hint" class="usa-hint">
        This is an input with a character counter.
      </span>
      <input
        class="usa-input usa-character-count__field"
        id="with-hint-input"
        maxlength="25"
        name="with-hint-input"
        aria-describedby="with-hint-input-info with-hint-input-hint"
      />
    </div>
    <span id="with-hint-input-info" class="usa-character-count__message">
      You can enter up to 25 characters
    </span>
  </div>
</form>

Textarea with Character Count

Component Preview

Component Code


<form class="usa-form">
  <div class="usa-character-count">
    <div class="usa-form-group">
      <label class="usa-label" for="with-hint-textarea">Textarea</label>
      <span id="with-hint-textarea-hint" class="usa-hint">
        This is a textarea with a character counter.
      </span>
      <textarea
        class="usa-textarea usa-character-count__field"
        id="with-hint-textarea"
        maxlength="50"
        name="with-hint-textarea"
        rows="5"
        aria-describedby="with-hint-textarea-info with-hint-textarea-hint"
      ></textarea>
    </div>
    <span id="with-hint-textarea-info" class="usa-character-count__message">
      You can enter up to 50 characters
    </span>
  </div>
</form>

Guidance

When to use the character count component

Brevity is desired.: When users are likely to provide more detail than is needed, and you want to force them to use fewer words. Note: this will likely increase the amount of time it takes users to submit the form because editing requires thinking.
Legal requirement.: When there is a legal reason where an entry must be under a certain number of characters.

When to consider something else

Backend limitations.: If your users keep hitting the character limit imposed by the backend of your service then try to increase the limit rather than use a character count.
Already implied.: If the character length is apparent or implied by the data type (i.e. phone number or zip code).
Exceeding the character limit is highly unlikely.: If the vast majority of users (well over 99%) are very unlikely to run afoul of backend validation, such as an address field that has a database field limit of 250 characters.

Accessibility guidance

Associate the character count message to the input.: Use aria-describedby on the input to allow the message to be announced to those using screen readers.

Using the character count component

Add component classes.: The structure should include a base element with the class usa-character-count. Inside of that base element there should be an input element (input or textarea) with the class usa-character-count__field and a message element (span or div) with the class usa-character-count__message.
Add a maxlength attribute to the input element.: This will be used as the limit referenced in the message and for validation.
Provide a backup message for environments without JavaScript.: In your markup, add a default message in the usa-character-count__message element that refers to the character limit. This will appear in instances when JavaScript does not load.

USWDS Documentation

For more guidance, view the USWDS Character Count Component Documentation.

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Variants

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