From 16eebe1e2263af72d4617ca1a69b52d624ed9573 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: David Stone <davidjamesstone@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:49:24 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Use error description as the label if it exists

---
 .../engine/components/FormComponent.ts        | 18 +++++++++---
 .../engine/components/TextField.test.ts       | 28 ++++++++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 41 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/server/plugins/engine/components/FormComponent.ts b/src/server/plugins/engine/components/FormComponent.ts
index d6686fd3c..04a4a8d04 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/engine/components/FormComponent.ts
+++ b/src/server/plugins/engine/components/FormComponent.ts
@@ -44,10 +44,20 @@ export class FormComponent extends ComponentBase {
 
     this.type = type
     this.hint = hint
-    this.label =
-      'shortDescription' in def && def.shortDescription
-        ? def.shortDescription
-        : def.title
+
+    this.label = this.getLabel(def)
+  }
+
+  getLabel(def: FormComponentsDef) {
+    if ('errorDescription' in def && def.errorDescription) {
+      return def.errorDescription
+    }
+
+    if ('shortDescription' in def && def.shortDescription) {
+      return def.shortDescription
+    }
+
+    return def.title
   }
 
   get keys() {
diff --git a/src/server/plugins/engine/components/TextField.test.ts b/src/server/plugins/engine/components/TextField.test.ts
index 492e0fff5..5b2d8a1e2 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/engine/components/TextField.test.ts
+++ b/src/server/plugins/engine/components/TextField.test.ts
@@ -209,7 +209,33 @@ describe('TextField', () => {
   describe('Validation', () => {
     describe.each([
       {
-        description: 'Use short description if it exists',
+        description: 'Use error description if it exists',
+        component: {
+          title: 'What is your example text?',
+          errorDescription: 'Example text',
+          shortDescription: 'Your example text',
+          name: 'myComponent',
+          type: ComponentType.TextField,
+          options: {},
+          schema: {}
+        } satisfies TextFieldComponent,
+        assertions: [
+          {
+            input: getFormData(''),
+            output: {
+              value: getFormData(''),
+              errors: [
+                expect.objectContaining({
+                  text: 'Enter example text'
+                })
+              ]
+            }
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      {
+        description:
+          'Use short description if it exists and error description does not',
         component: {
           title: 'What is your example text?',
           shortDescription: 'Your example text',

From e913f930989fd46c154d9100515ada47f0143b97 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: David Stone <davidjamesstone@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2026 12:32:54 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] Use error description in UKAddress errors

---
 .../plugins/engine/components/UkAddressField.ts   | 15 ++++-----------
 test/form/definitions/postcode-lookup.js          |  1 +
 test/form/postcode-lookup.test.js                 |  2 +-
 3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 12 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/server/plugins/engine/components/UkAddressField.ts b/src/server/plugins/engine/components/UkAddressField.ts
index f21ea4a7e..5b27d9b37 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/engine/components/UkAddressField.ts
+++ b/src/server/plugins/engine/components/UkAddressField.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,4 @@
-import {
-  ComponentType,
-  type FormComponentsDef,
-  type UkAddressFieldComponent
-} from '@defra/forms-model'
+import { ComponentType, type UkAddressFieldComponent } from '@defra/forms-model'
 import { type ObjectSchema } from 'joi'
 import lowerFirst from 'lodash/lowerFirst.js'
 
@@ -34,15 +30,13 @@ export class UkAddressField extends FormComponent {
   declare stateSchema: ObjectSchema<FormState>
   declare collection: ComponentCollection
 
-  shortDescription: FormComponentsDef['shortDescription']
-
   constructor(
     def: UkAddressFieldComponent,
     props: ConstructorParameters<typeof FormComponent>[1]
   ) {
     super(def, props)
 
-    const { name, options, shortDescription } = def
+    const { name, options } = def
 
     const isRequired = options.required !== false
     const hideOptional = !!options.optionalText
@@ -126,7 +120,6 @@ export class UkAddressField extends FormComponent {
     this.options = options
     this.formSchema = this.collection.formSchema
     this.stateSchema = this.collection.stateSchema
-    this.shortDescription = shortDescription
   }
 
   getFormValueFromState(state: FormSubmissionState) {
@@ -174,14 +167,14 @@ export class UkAddressField extends FormComponent {
     // When using postcode lookup, the address fields are hidden
     // so we replace any individual validation messages with a single one
     if (this.shouldUsePostcodeLookup() && uniqueErrors?.length) {
-      const { name, shortDescription } = this
+      const { name, label } = this
 
       return [
         {
           name,
           path: [name],
           href: `#${name}`,
-          text: `Enter ${lowerFirst(shortDescription)}`
+          text: `Enter ${lowerFirst(label)}`
         }
       ]
     }
diff --git a/test/form/definitions/postcode-lookup.js b/test/form/definitions/postcode-lookup.js
index 2426d1511..99278716a 100644
--- a/test/form/definitions/postcode-lookup.js
+++ b/test/form/definitions/postcode-lookup.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ export default /** @satisfies {FormDefinition} */ ({
           title: 'What is your address?',
           name: 'ybMHIv',
           shortDescription: 'Address',
+          errorDescription: 'Your address',
           hint: '',
           options: {
             required: true,
diff --git a/test/form/postcode-lookup.test.js b/test/form/postcode-lookup.test.js
index 29e9ae1e2..2eca19dad 100644
--- a/test/form/postcode-lookup.test.js
+++ b/test/form/postcode-lookup.test.js
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ describe('Postcode lookup form pages', () => {
 
     const $errorItems = within($errorSummary).getAllByRole('listitem')
     expect($errorItems).toHaveLength(1)
-    expect($errorItems[0]).toHaveTextContent('Enter address')
+    expect($errorItems[0]).toHaveTextContent('Enter your address')
   })
 
   it('should dispatch to details page on POST', async () => {