Instead of worrying about 50 shades of grey for label and placeholder
text, Jared asked "Why have both placeholders and labels"?
IMHO:
* A label identifies what a field is for, even after text is placed inside
of it.
* A placeholder gives an example of field content.
These are somewhat opposed. A further way of looking at it is to imagine a
long form fully filled out -- how do you verify, as a user, if you've
filled it out correctly if the labels are no longer visible (because you've
filled in the field).
On mobile, for short well known forms: e.g. password forms; there might be
an argument. But I would certainly rather not see this as the default.
~Matt Walker
Wikimedia Foundation
Fundraising Technology Team