Enhancing Forms Accessibility with useId Hook

When building forms, accessibility is about more than labels and colors — it’s about ensuring every user can interact with our app smoothly, including those using screen readers.

In HTML, linking a <label> with its <input> via the for and id attributes enables assistive technologies to announce input labels correctly. But in React, when components are rendered multiple times — especially in lists or reusable inputs — manually assigning IDs can easily lead to duplicates or mismatched labels.

React solves this problem elegantly with the useId Hook, which generates a unique, stable identifier for each rendered component instance.

Understanding useId Hook

The useId Hook provides a unique ID that’s consistent across renders and predictable for server and client rendering — making it ideal for forms, list items, and accessibility labels.

Here’s why it’s powerful:

• Generates unique IDs automatically, no manual counters.

• Works seamlessly in SSR (Server-side rendering).

• Ensures labels are properly linked to inputs for accessibility.

• Prevents accidental ID collisions in lists or reusable components.

The following diagram shows three reusable input components, each using useId to generate its own unique identifier. The label’s htmlFor attribute points to the input’s id, keeping them correctly linked. Even if these components re-render or appear in different lists, React ensures that every useId() call produces a distinct, stable ID.