Modern Web Guidance

<form>
  <div class="field">
    <label for="email">Email Address</label>
    <!-- MANDATORY: Place format hints above the input so autocomplete popovers don't cover them during editing -->
    <span id="email-hint" class="hint">Format: [email protected]</span>
    <!-- DO: Use standard HTML validation attributes like type="email" and required -->
    <input
      type="email"
      id="email"
      name="email"
      required
      autocomplete="email"
      aria-describedby="email-hint"
      aria-errormessage="email-error"
    >
    <div id="email-error" class="error-msg">
      <span aria-hidden="true">❌</span> Please enter a valid email address.
    </div>
  </div>
</form>

.hint {
  display: block;
  color: #5f6368;
  font-size: 0.85rem;
  margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
}

.error-msg {
  display: none;
  color: #d93025;
  font-size: 0.875rem;
  margin-top: 0.25rem;
}

/*
  DO: Only show error styles after user interaction.
  Use multiple indicators (border/background shift + icon/text) to avoid color-only states.
*/
input:user-invalid {
  border-color: #d93025;
  background-color: #fce8e6;
}

/* DO: Reveal the error message using the adjacent sibling selector */
input:user-invalid + .error-msg {
  display: block;
}

/* DO: Provide a clear success indication on :user-valid */
input:user-valid {
  border-color: #188038;
}

<form>
  <div class="field">
    <label for="password">New Password</label>
    <!-- MANDATORY: Place hints and rules above the input so mobile keyboards do not obscure them -->
    <ul id="password-rules" class="rules-list">
      <li>At least 8 characters</li>
      <li>One uppercase letter</li>
      <li>One number</li>
      <li>One special character</li>
    </ul>
    <!-- DO: Use pattern and minlength for complex password validation
         DO: Match all constraints with lookaheads via pattern attribute
     -->
    <input
      type="password"
      id="password"
      autocomplete="new-password"
      required
      pattern="(?=.*\d)(?=.*[a-z])(?=.*[A-Z])(?=.*[\W_]).{8,}"
      minlength="8"
      aria-describedby="password-rules"
    >
  </div>
</form>

/* DO: State the default styling as neutral */
.rules-list { 
  color: #5f6368; 
  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
}

/* DO: Show invalid state (After interaction): Error */
input:user-invalid {
  border-color: #d93025;
  background-color: #fce8e6;
}

/* DO: Highlight rules list when error is shown using the modern :has() selector */
.field:has(input:user-invalid) .rules-list {
  color: #d93025;
  font-weight: 600;
}

/* DO: Add success indications for :user-valid state */
input:user-valid {
  border-color: #188038;
}

/* DO: Hide rules once satisfied */
.field:has(input:user-valid) .rules-list {
  display: none;
}

input:user-invalid,
input.user-invalid-fallback {
  border-color: #d93025;
  background-color: #fce8e6;
}

input:user-invalid + .error-msg,
input.user-invalid-fallback + .error-msg {
  display: block;
}

const UserInvalidFallback = (() => {
  const dirtyState = new WeakMap();

  const updateState = (input) => {
    const isValid = input.checkValidity();

    // Update both visual and ARIA state
    input.classList.toggle('user-invalid-fallback', !isValid);
    input.classList.toggle('user-valid-fallback', isValid);

    if (!isValid) {
      input.setAttribute('aria-invalid', 'true');
    } else {
      input.removeAttribute('aria-invalid');
    }
  };

  const handleEvent = (event) => {
    const input = event.target;

    if (event.type === 'reset') {
      const controls = input.elements || [];
      for (const control of controls) {
        dirtyState.delete(control);
        control.classList.remove('user-invalid-fallback');
        control.classList.remove('user-valid-fallback');
        control.removeAttribute('aria-invalid');
      }
      return;
    }

    if (!input.checkValidity) return;

    if (event.type === 'input' || event.type === 'change') {
      const state = dirtyState.get(input) || { hasInteracted: false, hasBlurred: false };
      state.hasInteracted = true;
      dirtyState.set(input, state);
      if (state.hasBlurred) {
        updateState(input);
      }
    } else if (event.type === 'blur') {
      const state = dirtyState.get(input) || { hasInteracted: false, hasBlurred: false };
      state.hasBlurred = true;
      dirtyState.set(input, state);
      if (state.hasInteracted) {
        updateState(input);
      }
    }
  };

  const init = (root = document) => {
    if (CSS.supports('selector(:user-invalid)')) return;

    root.addEventListener('blur', handleEvent, true); // Capture phase
    root.addEventListener('input', handleEvent);
    root.addEventListener('change', handleEvent);
    root.addEventListener('reset', handleEvent, true); // Capture resets
  };

  return { init };
})();

// Initialize for a specific form
const form = document.querySelector('#demo-form');
UserInvalidFallback.init(form);

// Sync aria-invalid with the CSS :user-invalid state
const syncAria = (el) => {
  el.setAttribute?.('aria-invalid', el.matches(':user-invalid') ? 'true' : 'false');
};

// Update on blur (to show error) and input (to clear it)
document.addEventListener('blur', (e) => syncAria(e.target), true);
document.addEventListener('input', (e) => {
  if (e.target.hasAttribute('aria-invalid')) syncAria(e.target);
});