Default text for all <input> form controls must include an actual value. Including spaces (i.e. value="") in default text is not allowed but using placeholder characters (i.e. value="****") is acceptable. Placing default text in form fields enables keyboard users to insert a cursor into placeholder text and enter their own data.
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>aert1.0/10.4.1</title> </head> <body> <form action=""> <label for="control1">Some text:</label> <input id="control1" value="" type="text" /> </form> </body> </html>
W3C WAI: http://www.w3.org/WAI//
HTML Techniques for WAI 1.0: http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10-HTML-TECHS/