How to prevent JAWS from saying "invalid entry" on required fields?

The "invalid-entry" is caused by the required attribute. Instead, you can use the aria-required=true. With this solution, you get rid of the "invalid-entry" with JAWS and NVDA.

To get the complete list of known issues, check this link to a blog post by the Paciello Group

I found the way to resolve this was to set aria-invalid="false" on the input field if it has not yet been submitted.

If the form is submitted then the aria-invalid should be set accordingly.

FYI...this was a known issue in JAWS 13/14, and other screen readers, as mentioned on this article: Accessible Forms 2: Required Fields and Extra Information.

When using JAWS 13/14, NVDA 2012.3 and WindowsEyes 8.1 with Firefox 20 (and maybe some other browsers) the HTML5 ‘invalid entry’ message is presented for each required form field when arrowing through the form in browse mode or tabbing from input to input in forms mode. Since this warning appears before an entry has been made it could be potentially confusing for some users.

Now, you can use both required and aria-required together, along with a placeholder.

<label for="theInput">Label Text (required):</label>
<input type="text" name="theInput" id="theInput" required="required" aria-required="true" placeholder="the Input" value="" />