- From: David Poehlman <poehlman1@comcast.net>
- Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 07:02:17 -0500
- To: Jukka Korpela <jukka.korpela@tieke.fi>, w3c-wai-ig@w3.org
the problem with this approach although I agree that "required" is a better usage is that for braille users and those using large print, we are adding sugnificantly to the realestate. I have two things to say about forms as I see it. First, put the instructions on the page with the form including how required fields are indicated and make sure that they are indicated both visually and textually in a small way textually that is and second, even if I don't know what is required, I know most offten what is issential but of course, that may not be true of all but at a minimum, if you are subbing to an email list through a form for instance, the email address is sufficient. On the back end of the form, provide corrective paths such that if a required field is missed, describe what is lacking and provide an opportunity there not by returning to the form but right there to make the needed changes and only show those fields that need changing. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jukka Korpela" <jukka.korpela@tieke.fi> To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org> Sent: Friday, March 22, 2002 2:43 AM Subject: RE: Mandatory field labelling Tom James wrote: > <label for="firstName"> > <img src="asterix.gif" alt="Mandatory: " /> > First Name > <input type="text" id="firstName" /> The approach works most of the time, but I wonder what's wrong with the simple idea of using just words. Not necessarily before the field label but after it, since it's not the most essential part, and a column of field names all beginning with "Mandatory: " would look a bit odd. Although an asterisk would mostly work, especially if explained at the beginning, it's a somewhat artificial convention, which people may miss or forget - especially people with cognitive disorders. In fact, the asterisk character has _very_ varying semantics, and we shouldn't expect the general public easily recognize what we mean by it. (There's an incomplete list of meanings that asterisk have actually been used for, at my http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/latin1/3.html#2A (sorry, not very accessible - it's in the middle of a large document)). It has been said (somewhere - I forgot!) that problems encountered by cognitively disabled people are comparable to problems of first-time users. So if you were about to fill out a form on a Web page for the first time in your life, would you know what "*" means? (Intuitively, it could just as well mean _optional_ field! The form as a whole will tell that this can't be the case, but understanding the form as a whole is what many people have challenges with.) Besides, I'd use simpler language. I suppose more people understand the word "required" than the word "mandatory". Thus, my suggestion is: <label for="firstName"> First Name (required): <input type="text" id="firstName" /> Naturally, the names of required fields could be highlighted visually using CSS, or one could even use <strong> markup for them, with or without CSS, since a required fields can be regarded as one that that strong emphasis. But this is secondary; words are the most reliable method of communicating that a field is mandatory. -- Jukka Korpela TIEKE Tietoyhteiskunnan kehittämiskeskus ry Finnish Information Society Development Centre Salomonkatu 17 A, 10th floor, FIN - 00100 HELSINKI, FINLAND Phone: +358 9 4763 0397 Fax: +358 9 4763 0399 http://www.tieke.fi jukka.korpela@tieke.fi
Received on Friday, 22 March 2002 07:02:49 UTC