RE: form controls to the left or right of labels?

Hmmm

I think we need to separate this into two questions.

1)  what does WCAG 1.0 actually say.

2)  what should it (or WCAG 2.0) say.


I think that 2.0 should NOT require radio buttons be to the right.  This
is not according to convention -- and often won’t work well visually. 

1.0 should not require it -- but the wording may imply that.  If so we
should post a note that the position rule is not to apply to radio
buttons or checkboxes as a requirement for compliance.

Gregg



-- ------------------------------ 
Gregg C Vanderheiden Ph.D. 
Professor - Human Factors 
Dept of Ind. Engr. - U of Wis. 
Director - Trace R & D Center 
Gv@trace.wisc.edu <mailto:Gv@trace.wisc.edu>, <http://trace.wisc.edu/> 
FAX 608/262-8848  
For a list of our listserves send “lists” to listproc@trace.wisc.edu
<mailto:listproc@trace.wisc.edu> 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org [mailto:w3c-wai-gl-request@w3.org] On
> Behalf Of gian@stanleymilford.com.au
> Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 7:32 PM
> To: w3c-wai-gl@w3.org
> Subject: RE: form controls to the left or right of labels?
> 
> I would say this does violate the guideline, as from my perspective I
> would expect that the reasoning behind this checkpoint is for people
> using screen-readers: they need to know what the option is before they
> select it. So for example, having the radio button to the left of the
> text would mean the screen-reader would read "Radio button unchecked.
1
> pack. Radio button unchecked. 2 packs" etc.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mathew.Mirabella [mailto:Mathew.Mirabella@team.telstra.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 11:41 AM
> To: w3c-wai-gl
> Subject: form controls to the left or right of labels?
> 
> 
> All.
> 
> According to WCAG 1.0, labels for form controls should appear
immediatly
> before the control (or above it if there is only one control on the
> line).
> This usually means the label should appear just to the left of the
> control.
> 
> This is fine for text entry fields and boxes and pull-down menus.
> However,
> for checkboxes and radio buttons, you often want to place the label to
> the
> right of the checkbox or radio button.  Does doing this violate the
> guideline?
> 
> What are the current views of people on this issue.
>

Received on Monday, 17 December 2001 14:17:08 UTC