Sandbox User Information    Create User Name: [1]____________________ AG:: What is a user name?  Why do I need one? The username and password section should be a FIELDSET grouping.  I suspect that this may not be possible given the way the structure is actually all implicit in the form layout. But these three fields form a functional unit and should be previewed as such. To explain what a user name is and why the user wants one, an introductory explanation is in order.  Something on the order of "We keep this sandbox here for you to play in for free.  However, we do expect you to identify yourself when you come here to play.  This is done with a user name and a password, which you create in this section.  Remember these, you will need them when you come back." Then each field has a separate introduction in addition to this group introduction. Your user name can be a nickname or anything you wish.  We will be asking for your full name later in the postal address for the delivery of prizes." The existing label and entry field    Create User Name: [1]____________________ go next.  But we could have a LABEL around "Create User Name" linked to the text entry field. Next introduce password: "Your password is how we are sure it is really you.  Your account is just for your use, don't let anyone else know your password." [then the line]      Choose Password: [2]____________________    Then the explanation "Please repeat your password so we are sure we got it down right."     Confirm Password: [3]____________________    This next one is all messed up.  Birth Date is the subject of another fieldset of three form fields.  The labeling now makes it sound as though the first field is the date of birth.  This is often done with a single text entry field.  So explain "Please tell us your date of birth.  The following three fields take your month, day and year of birth respectively." "The month you can just select from the list we gave you."       Birth    Date: [4][(1)__.........] Next the day of the month as a two digit number. Day [5]__, "And finally the last two digits of your birth year, such as 67."    19 [6]__    Note that asking for a two-digit year will not break unless we have some really precocious web users at under one year, but it is still not a good idea.  Using the "19" as the label to indicate that the text entered in the text entry field should be the last two digits of the number is a visual conceit; not a literate articulation of the question at hand.  See how it doesn't work with link numbering turned on, the way a blind Lynx user should be running.      In order for us to properly award prizes for participating in our    games, please accurately fill out your name, home address and email    address. Please include the @ symbol and period (.com) for all email    addresses. Thank you.    First Name: [7]____________________          Last Name: [8]____________________          Street 1: [9]____________________    AG:: "Street 1" is a classic.  This is not literate explanation.  Explanation would be something on the order of: In writing your postal address, we start with your name.  We end with your city, state, zip and country.  Between your name and this ending, we have two lines for whatever else it takes to get the mail to you, a street address and apartment number, a company name and mail stop, or whatever is needed.  But it has to be arranged on two lines.  These are called "Street 1" and "Street 2" below for the first and second line of your "street address" or equivalent. Visually you see the framing Name and City/State/Zip labels and can back out what the meaning of "Street 1" and "Street 2" are.  But just hearing these questions, one could interpret this as "what intersection are you at?"  Etc.       Street 2: [10]____________________          City: [11]__________          State: [12][(1)__.....................]          Country: [13][(1)__........................]          Zip: [14]__________          Email Address: [15]____________________          Gender: [16][(1)__......]      Favorite Team: [17][(1)__......................]       [header1_left.gif] Sandbox Special Member Offers [header1_right.gif]    [18][_] Join LifeMinders' 18 million members who receive reminders and    emails on topics of their choice ranging from daily weather and jokes    to work and money. Simply confirm your Free LifeMinders membership by    clicking on the link in your Sandbox email. AG:: We need a clear indication of the extent of what goes with the checkbox. This could be a DIV but we could stand to be clearer in the new X-Forms.    [19][_] Earn Special Offers from Sandbox Partners like our newest    partner, itsImazing. 2 Lynx doesn't dump the field contents when printing off this dump.  So I don't have here the indication that some of the checkboxes are pre-initialized to CHECKED. This is an issue for use to be concerned about.  The user needs something like a "visit all checked boxes" pragma.    [20][_] Get fun tips delivered to your emailbox daily--FREE! Sign up    now and Receive EMAZING's Golf, Stupid Quotes, and Health & Fitness    Tips of the Day. EMAZING--whatever you're into, we e-mail it to    you--FREE!    Hot Offers    [21][_] Join the "e-catalog of the week" program from Shop2u and    receive free, personalized, full-color brand name catalogs by e-mail    [22][_] EARN REAL CASH for sampling the best of the Web, reading    emails and shopping. Join Cybergold now for a chance to Win a Free MP3    PLAYER.    Subscription Offers    [23][_] Check here for 4 FREE TRIAL ISSUES of Sports Illustrated! 6    [24][_] Check here for a FREE trial issue of National Geographic    Magazine, and enjoy grand adventures, unforgettable places, and    fantastic photography 7    [25][_] Check here for a FREE trial issue of Cigar AFICIONADO and A    free Gift. 8    [26][_] Check here for a RISK FREE TRIAL ISSUE of Men's Health    Magazine and get Tons of Useful Stuff! 9    [27][_] Check here for a FREE trial issue of T & L Golf, America's    leading golf lifestyle magazine. 10    [28][_] Check here for 4 RISK FREE TRIAL ISSUES of THE SPORTING NEWS.    11    [footer_left.gif] [space.gif] [footer_right.gif]      [29][btn_submit.gif]-Submit    Be sure to review the [30]Member Agreement.       2Your Sandbox registration information will be shared with Special    Sandbox Partners for upcoming special offers and promotions. AG:: This legend is buried way down here.  Should be more tightly linked with the initial "Sandbox User Information" block.       6If you like what you see, your subscription will continue at just    $.75 an issue for 40 issues of Sports Illustrated; that's the    guaranteed lowest rate available. If not, mark your bill 'cancel' and    the 4 FREE TRIAL ISSUES are yours to keep. AG:: Here the linearization is breaking down.  The fine print for each subscription offer is somewhere on the page, but after linearizing the table, it is no longer collated with the subscription whose terms it describes.  This you may not have noticed if you didn't care about the terms and conditions.  But a screen reader user reading the paragraps like this one and ascertaining that they could not follow what it was about would turn distrustful and bail out of the whole signup process.       Offer good in US and Canada only. In Canada, the rate is 40 issues for    $31.80 - does not include GST/QST/HST. To learn more about SI's    information practices, please read our[31] privacy policy.       7We'll send you a free trial issue of National Geographic Magazine and    start your one-year membership in the National Geographic Society for    only $29. Simply pay the invoice to keep the benefits of membership,    which includes the next 11 monthly issues of National Geographic (12    issues in all), five wall size maps in selected issues, and member    discounts on other Society products. Or write "cancel" on the invoice    and return. The free trial issue is yours to keep. Offer good in U.S.    only.       8If you like Cigar Aficionado, you'll receive 5 more issues (6 issues    in all) for only $19.95. PLUS, we'll send you our special guide to    Cigar Aficionado's Favorite Hotels and Restaurants, absolutely FREE    with your paid subscription. If you decide not to subscribe, simply    write "cancel" on the invoice; the trial issue is yours to keep.       9You will receive 9 more issues, making 10 in all for $24.94.       10If you like Travel & Leisure Golf, you will receive 5 more issues (6    in all) for only $18.00 - this is a savings of 33% off the cover    price! If you choose not to subscribe, return the bill marked "cancel"    when it arrives and owe nothing- the FREE TRIAL ISSUE is yours to    keep.       11If you like them your subscription will continue at the guaranteed    low price of only $.69 an issue for 40 issues. That's a 76% savings    off the $2.99 cover price! If not, mark your bill "cancel" and the 4    FREE TRIAL ISSUES are yours to keep. Offer good in US and Canada only.    In Canada, the rate is 40 issues for $1.09 per issue - does not    include GST/QST/HST. This offer for new subscribers only and is not    available with gift subscriptions. [end annotated Lynx dump of signup form from sandbox.com] That's my guess of the kinds of fixes to raise the success rate among the people who rejected the form this time around up near 99%. Now, to achieve a universal effect the long documentation has to be normally hidden.  But to make the form fully facile for the eyes-free, the hidden stuff has to be exposed by standard commands, so they always can come back to a home document configuration and know where they are as they move around in that.  This could be that the eyes-free configuration is a fully-expanded roll-out of the verbiage etc.  Then it would have to support navigation commands to skip to the next field-bearing DIV. So, we can come close with HTML 4 tuned to one screen reader or another.  Probably can get over 90% success rate eyes-free but at the cost of verbosity that the visual designer will not accept. That is why we need something more general that works something like the nested layers of expansion with the CAPTION and SUMMARY of a table.  Only more general and flexible.