Beginner’s Guide to Laravel: Learning User Authentication and Authorization from Scratch

What You Will Learn

• How to implement user registration and login using Laravel Breeze
• Simple permission management with middleware and Gates
• Accessibility enhancements: form labels and ARIA attributes

Intended Audience

• Absolute beginners who have just started with PHP/Laravel
• Those who need to quickly add secure login functionality in a real‐world project
• Developers preparing to learn authorization design for team or production use

Accessibility Level: ★★★☆☆

• Includes proper form labeling, keyboard operability support, and screen‐reader examples

Introduction: Why Authentication and Authorization Matter

In web application development, one of the highest priorities is providing a service that users can trust and feel safe using.

• Authentication (「認証」): verifying who is accessing the app (login/logout, password reset, etc.)
• Authorization (「認可」): controlling what each authenticated user is allowed to do (e.g. editing posts, admin-only pages).

In this article, we’ll leverage Laravel’s built-in packages to learn authentication and authorization end-to-end, with accessible code examples that even beginners can follow confidently. ♡

1. Setting Up Your Environment & Installing Laravel Breeze

First, create a new Laravel project on your local machine:

# Create a new project via Composer
composer create-project laravel/laravel myapp

cd myapp

# Install Breeze (a simple auth scaffolding package)
composer require laravel/breeze --dev
php artisan breeze:install

# Install JS/CSS dependencies and build assets
npm install && npm run dev

• These commands add Laravel Breeze, creating
  • /routes/auth.php with registration/login routes
  • resources/views/auth containing Blade templates
• After npm run dev, open http://localhost:8000 to see the default auth screens.

2. Enhancing Accessibility on the User Registration Form

Breeze’s default form works, but we can improve it for accessibility:

1. Proper <label> Elements

   <label for="name">Name <span aria-hidden="true">※</span></label>
   <input id="name" type="text" name="name" value="{{ old('name') }}" required autofocus>
   

   • Use for to link label and input
   • Mark required fields visually but hide the asterisk from screen readers with aria-hidden="true"

2. Screen‐Reader‐Friendly Error Messages

   @error('email')
     <p id="email-error" class="text-red-600" role="alert">
       {{ $message }}
     </p>
   @enderror
   <input aria-describedby="email-error" …>
   

   • Wrap errors in an element with role="alert"
   • Reference it from the input via aria-describedby

3. Keyboard Navigation

   • HTML source order determines tab order, so keep markup in a logical sequence
   • Always specify type="button" or type="submit" on custom buttons

3. Setting Up Login and Creating Reusable Components

Apply the same accessibility improvements to the login form and create Blade components for reuse.

3.1 Create a Custom Input Component

{{-- resources/views/components/form/input.blade.php --}}
@props(['id','type'=>'text','name','value'=>null,'label'])

<div class="mb-4">
  <label for="{{ $id }}" class="block text-gray-700">
    {{ $label }}
  </label>
  <input
    id="{{ $id }}"
    type="{{ $type }}"
    name="{{ $name }}"
    value="{{ old($name, $value) }}"
    {{ $attributes->merge(['class' => 'mt-1 block w-full']) }}
  >
  @error($name)
    <p class="text-red-600 mt-1" role="alert">
      {{ $message }}
    </p>
  @enderror
</div>

• Defines input, label, and error display in one place
• Ensures consistent accessibility and styling
• Easily reusable across forms

3.2 Use the Component in Your Login View

<x-form.input id="email" type="email" name="email" label="Email Address" />
<x-form.input id="password" type="password" name="password" label="Password" />
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-primary">Login</button>

4. Basics of Permission Management: Middleware vs. Gate

4.1 Route-Level Protection with Middleware

In app/Http/Kernel.php, Laravel’s built-in auth middleware guards routes:

Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {
    Route::get('/dashboard', function () {
        return view('dashboard');
    });
});

• Only authenticated users can access /dashboard

4.2 Model-Level Authorization with Gates

Define a Gate in AuthServiceProvider:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Gate;
use App\Models\Post;

public function boot()
{
    Gate::define('update-post', function ($user, Post $post) {
        return $user->id === $post->user_id;
    });
}

In your controller:

public function edit(Post $post)
{
    $this->authorize('update-post', $post);
    return view('posts.edit', compact('post'));
}

• Only the post’s owner can edit it

5. Recap: Key Takeaways on Auth & Authorization

1. Laravel Breeze for quick scaffolding
2. Accessibility: Labels, ARIA attributes, and keyboard support
3. Blade Components for reusable, accessible form controls
4. Middleware vs. Gates for robust route- and model-level protection

With these fundamentals, even beginners can confidently implement user authentication and authorization in Laravel. Try it out in your next project and deepen your understanding as you go!