Ask users for Telephone numbers

This guidance is for government teams that build online services. To find information and services for the public, go to GOV.UK.

Open this example in a new tab: telephone numbers
HTML
<div class="govuk-form-group">
  <label class="govuk-label" for="telephone-number">
    UK telephone number
  </label>
  <input class="govuk-input govuk-input--width-20" id="telephone-number" name="telephoneNumber" type="tel" autocomplete="tel">
</div>
Nunjucks
{% from "govuk/components/input/macro.njk" import govukInput %}

{{ govukInput({
  label: {
    text: "UK telephone number"
  },
  id: "telephone-number",
  name: "telephoneNumber",
  type: "tel",
  autocomplete: "tel",
  classes: "govuk-input--width-20"
}) }}

When to use this pattern

Only collect telephone numbers from people if you genuinely need them. Not everyone has or can use a telephone, so make sure you give users a choice about how they can be contacted.

How it works

Allow different formats

Let users enter telephone numbers in whatever format is familiar to them. Allow for additional spaces, hyphens, dashes and brackets, and be able to accommodate country and area codes.

Validate telephone numbers

You should validate telephone numbers so you can let users know if they have entered one incorrectly. Google’s libphonenumber library can validate telephone numbers from most countries.

Use the autocomplete attribute

Use the autocomplete attribute on telephone number inputs. This lets browsers autofill the information on a user’s behalf if they’ve entered it previously.

To do this, set the autocomplete attribute to tel, as shown in the HTML and Nunjucks tabs in the examples on this page.

If you are working in production you’ll need to do this to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

You will not normally need to use the autocomplete attribute in prototypes, as users will not generally be using their own devices.

Error messages

Error messages should be styled like this:

Open this example in a new tab: error, empty field – telephone numbers
HTML
<div class="govuk-form-group govuk-form-group--error">
  <label class="govuk-label" for="telephone-number">
    UK telephone number
  </label>
  <p id="telephone-number-error" class="govuk-error-message">
    <span class="govuk-visually-hidden">Error:</span> Enter a UK telephone number
  </p>
  <input class="govuk-input govuk-input--width-20 govuk-input--error" id="telephone-number" name="telephoneNumber" type="tel" aria-describedby="telephone-number-error" autocomplete="tel">
</div>
Nunjucks
{% from "govuk/components/input/macro.njk" import govukInput %}

{{ govukInput({
  label: {
    text: "UK telephone number"
  },
  errorMessage: {
    text: "Enter a UK telephone number"
  },
  id: "telephone-number",
  name: "telephoneNumber",
  type: "tel",
  autocomplete: "tel",
  classes: "govuk-input--width-20"
}) }}

Make sure errors follow the guidance in error message and have specific error messages for specific error states.

If the telephone number is not in the correct format and there is no example

Say ‘Enter a telephone number, like 01632 960 001, 07700 900 982 or +44 808 157 0192’.

If the telephone number is not in the correct format and there is an example

Say ‘Enter a telephone number in the correct format’.

Make it clear what type of telephone number you need

Use the form label or hint text to tell users if you specifically need a UK, international or mobile telephone number.

Open this example in a new tab: international – telephone numbers
HTML
<div class="govuk-form-group">
  <label class="govuk-label" for="telephone-number">
    Telephone number
  </label>
  <div id="telephone-number-hint" class="govuk-hint">
    For international numbers include the country code
  </div>
  <input class="govuk-input govuk-input--width-20" id="telephone-number" name="telephoneNumber" type="tel" aria-describedby="telephone-number-hint" autocomplete="tel">
</div>
Nunjucks
{% from "govuk/components/input/macro.njk" import govukInput %}

{{ govukInput({
  label: {
    text: "Telephone number"
  },
  hint: {
    text: "For international numbers include the country code"
  },
  id: "telephone-number",
  name: "telephoneNumber",
  type: "tel",
  autocomplete: "tel",
  classes: "govuk-input--width-20"
}) }}

Using example telephone numbers

If you wish to include an example telephone number (in hint text for example), Ofcom maintains a list of numbers that are reserved for use in media. These are:

  • UK non-geographic: 01632 960000 to 960999
  • UK London: 020 7946 0000 to 7946 0999
  • UK mobile: 07700 900000 to 900999

Explain why you need a telephone number

Tell users why you might contact them and when.

It’s possible to mark up telephone numbers as links, like this:

<a href="tel:+442079476330">020 7947 6330</a>

However, doing this will style telephone numbers as links, which is confusing on devices that do not support telephone calls.

It might also not be necessary - some modern mobile browsers automatically detect telephone numbers and display them as links anyway.

If you do need to mark up your telephone numbers as links, for example, to support a device that cannot automatically detect them, make sure they do not display as links on devices that cannot make calls.

When you look at your service’s user journey, remember that telephone numbers as links might behave in unexpected ways for the user. For example, unless the user sets a default app to handle tel: links, some browsers and operating systems will automatically start a setup process.

Write telephone numbers in the GOV.UK style

See the GOV.UK style for writing telephone numbers.

Avoid input masking

Avoid input masking because it makes it harder for users to:

  • type a number in their preferred way
  • transcribe a number from another place and check that they’ve got it right

Avoid reformatting telephone numbers

The GOV.UK Notify team have observed some users becoming confused when presented with a reformatted version of a telephone number that they provided, for example, with the +44 country code added.

Research on this pattern

More research is needed on the best way to handle:

  • international numbers
  • extensions
  • SMS shortcodes

Help improve this pattern

To help make sure that this page is useful, relevant and up to date, you can:

Tell us if your service uses this pattern

Take part in our usage survey (opens in a new tab) to help us improve this pattern to better meet the needs of the services that use it.

Need help?

If you’ve got a question about the GOV.UK Design System, contact the team.