Re: a single label where multiple fields follow

On Fri, Sep 22, 2006 at 09:06:32PM +0930, Matthew Smith wrote:
> The only time where I can see that a format needs to be forced - and
> thus contextual help be provided - is with dates.

Even there you can allow free form entry, and then prompt the user on
the response page if there is any ambiguity. An example of a format
which is always unambiguous can reduce the need for the prompt to a
subset of cases where the user ignores the example.

Date: [_______________] (e.g. 27/Sep/2006)

So 14/Dec/2006, 14 Dec 2006, Dec 14 2006, or 14/12/2006 (etc) would go
straight through, while 07/08/09 would result in something like:

  Sorry, we had some trouble understanding the date you entered, did
  you mean:
  [] 7 August 2009
  [] 8 July 2009
  [] Other: Day [____________] Month [___________] Year [____________]

-- 
David Dorward                                      http://dorward.me.uk

Received on Friday, 22 September 2006 11:48:53 UTC