508 Section 1194.22 Paragraph (n) " When electronic
forms are designed to be completed on-line, the form shall
allow people using Assistive technology to access the
information, field elements, and functionality required for
completion and submission of the form, including all
directions and cues."
Minnesota Electronic and Information Technology
Accessibility - "Field identifiers must appear to the
left and on the same line as the field to which they refer.
Do not use font styles, sizes, attributes, colors or other
non-textual elements as the only means of indicating required
fields and other form parameters. Legends for identifiers
within the form (* = required field) should appear prior to
the form. Provide alternatives to completing online forms
(e-mail, telephone, fax, postal service, in-person) and
clearly indicate that these alternatives are supported."
Forms
- Computer Accommodations Program, University of
Minnesota.
For the web developer who does not wish to place form
elements immediately adjacent to their corresponding titles,
the HTML 4.0 specification includes the <LABEL> tag that lets web developers
mark specific elements as "labels" and then associate a form
element with that label. The LABEL tag, can explicitly
associate the label with its control. In addition to the
increased usability of being able to click text and have a
FORM element respond, screen readers can use the LABEL tag to
describe what the FORM element represents. FORMs, especially
when laid out using tables, can be tricky things for screen
readers to handle, and are often extremely confusing for
those using a screen reader to use the web. The LABEL tag
alleviates much of that. Explict
labeling works extremely well with all popular assistive
technology and are recommended in all but the very simplest
of tables. Using "explicit" labels involves two distinct
steps: Use the tag. Use the "FOR" attribute to
uniquely identify that element. Use the "ID" Attribute in the
Associated Form Element. Every form element supports the "ID"
attribute. By setting this attribute to the identifier used
in the "FOR" attribute of the associated tag and a closing
tag.
The "for" attribute explicitly
associates a LABEL with a specific form control. In addition,
multiple LABELS can be created for a single control using the
"for" attribute. (Note: The "for" attribute must have the
same value as the "id" attribute associated with the form
control element.) -A-Prompt
Explicitly
associate form controls and their labels with the LABEL
element - Bobby. An HTML LABEL specifically associates
the label's text with the form control. This allows the
browser to tell the user definitively which label applies to
the given control. Usually, clicking on the label positions
the cursor in the form field, or toggles the value of radio
buttons or check boxes. This is intuitive for many users and
provides a larger target for the mouse.
For all form controls without implicitly associated
labels (such as "submit" buttons), ensure that the
label is properly positioned. This interim requirement
applies even if you have associated labels and form
controls with the LABEL element (which is still
recommended). Rationale: Users who do not have a view
of the web page in a graphical layout may not be able
to determine which label applies to which form control,
and therefore will not know what data to enter. Proper
positioning of the label helps to avoid this.
Labels for radio buttons and checkboxes should
appear after the radio button or checkbox. For
example: [checkbox] oranges, [checkbox] apples.
Labels for text fields appear before the text
field. For example: last name [text area].
Labels for groups of any form control should
appear before the group. For example: choose a city:
[radio button] Boston [radio button] Madison.
"If you've filled out online forms, you've probably run
into those that don't behave as you expect when you try to
tab between fields. Instead of moving horizontally across a
set of fields, the cursor may tab down, or vice versa.
Authors now have control over this function with the TABINDEX attribute. The same elements
that accept the ACCESSKEY attribute can accept the TABINDEX
attribute, so not only does tabbing apply to forms, but a
user can readily tab through the links on a page to arrive at
the one he or she wishes to follow." - Michael G.
Paciello
"Moderately experienced computer users are likely to be
familiar with the concept of the keyboard shortcut. That
is, to access a specific program command or feature, you
can activate it by using a combination of keyboard strokes.
Windows users undoubtedly have used the Alt+F combination
to access a program's File menu. Macintosh users have
similar options when using the app key. Web authors can
provide similar keyboard access to elements in a Web page
using the ACCESSKEY attribute.
The following elements may be enhanced in this manner:
A
AREA
BUTTON
INPUT
LABEL
LEGEND
TEXTAREA
"No requirements are placed on the author as to what keys
should be used, though common sense would dictate that some
logical order be followed." - Michael G. Paciello
"The new OPTGROUP element
enables the logical grouping of options so that the user
agent may render them in meaningful sections, perhaps as a
hierarchical menu, or with some other semantic that reflects
the added structure provided by the group. The HTML consists
of the OPTGROUP element that contains a LABEL attribute." -
Michael G. Paciello
©
1998-2025
Laura
L.
Carlson