Accessible CSS Forms: Using CSS to Create a Two-Column Layout

Websites have become less accessible and more complex over time according to recent studies. Learn how to buck the trend by creating fast, accessible CSS forms that work with modern browsers and gracefully degrade.

Website Optimization (2008). Articles>Web Design>CSS>Forms

Accessible Forms

This document is concerned with what the user of a Website form "sees" and interacts with. It outlines how you can create forms for the Web that are more accessible and describes the appropriate use of.

Hudson, William. Webusability (2004). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms

Build Accessible Online Forms

Ask anyone who has had to fix a Website that's littered with accessibility howlers, and top-most in their list of problems encountered will be forms, closely followed by tables. These two topics always seem to present the most difficulties, but they needn't be a problem. For the most part, forms are a problem because the extra accessibility tags are simply not known to the Web designer -- after all, it looks right, it seems to work... what's the problem? Only by switching off the monitor and using a screen-reader can our oblivious Web developer understand the issues.

Lloyd, Ian. SitePoint (2003). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Forms

Colons at the End of Labels?

You are writing captions or labels for fields in forms, for example 'Name' or 'Date of birth'. Should they be finished with a colon, or not?

Light, Ann. Usability News (2006). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms

Creating Bulletproof and Easy to Complete Web Forms

Effective form design is a great way to boost conversion rates. Jason Fried and Matthew Linderman share with us the secret of how to create attractive and functional forms.

Fried, Jason and Matthew Linderman. Peachpit Press (2004). Articles>Web Design>Standards>Forms

Forms: The Importance of Getting it Right

Urgh – it’s what we all think when presented with a form to complete, whether printed or online. What is it about forms that make us feel this way? Maybe, the history of being officious and complicated, a drain on our time, and they often make us feel stressed. As forms represent a business or an organisation, all these feelings are subsequently associated with that organisation – not good for customer relations or reputation!

Lift (2007). Articles>Web Design>Usability>Forms

Designing a Login Form

Over at Smiley Cat Web Design they’ve put together a showcase of many different login and registration forms. While you’re there, take a look at some of the other showcases listed in the sidebar. They have sets for calendars and date pickers, footers, search boxes, and many more.

CyberText Consulting (2008). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability

Conflict Resolution in XML - Forms For All

Conflict resolution is required wherever we have multiple concurrent changes to a single information set. In practical terms this applies, for example, to concurrent editing environments, to replicated database instances which are being updated independently, to address-book changes on a PDA that must be merged into a master database that has itself been changed. Resolving these conflicts very often requires human intervention. This paper looks at the use of XML forms of various types to reduce the drudgery involved and to take advantage some of the greatest strengths of XML, using pipelining and easily-understood representations to allow a decision-maker to work with minimal drag.

Nichols, Thomas, Nigel Whitaker and Robin La Fontaine. IDEAlliance (2004). Articles>Information Design>XML>Forms

Enterprise-Level Web Form Applications with XForms and XFDL

This paper describes a platform for the XML definition of secure, intelligent web-based applications. XForms provides a powerful model-view-controller (MVC) pattern that may best be described as a cause-and-effect XML processing model originated by XFDL. This paper describes a new version of XFDL that consumes, or skins, XForms. Hence, this paper presents the first integration of the standardized XML markup for expressing the core processing of a web-based form applications (XForms) with a host language (XFDL) that offers security, precision presentation, a document-centric capability, and other features that contribute to a more rich user experience.

Boyer, John. IDEAlliance (2005). Articles>Information Design>Forms>XML

The Essence of Declarative, XML-based Web Applications: XForms and XSLT

In this session, the author discusses best practices, common patterns and pitfalls in using XSLT as a host language for generating web-based user interfaces expressed in XForms.

Thomas-Ogbuji, Chimezie. XML 2006 (2006). Articles>Web Design>XML>XForms

Accessible HTML/XHTML Forms

Forms are often the most tricky aspect of web development for beginners to get their head around, largely because it means stepping out of the comfort zone of one-way information - no longer are you simply presenting information at the person viewing your site, now you are asking for input, for feedback that you have to process in some way. And just as it may be difficult for HTML beginners to understand just how they handle form data, so is it difficult to understand some of the issues relating to accessibility.

Lloyd, Ian. Web Standards Project (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Forms

Styling Form Controls with CSS, Revisited

Attempting to use CSS to make form controls look similar across browsers and operating systems in an exercise in futility. It simply cannot be done. Because of all this I spent way too much time creating a total of 224 screenshots showing the effects of various CSS rules applied to form controls.

Johansson, Roger. 456 Berea Street (2007). Design>Web Design>Forms>CSS

Tips for Creating Online Forms

Usability is central to the successful completion of online forms. Whether applying for insurance, completing tax returns or simply making an online purchase, a poorly designed or confusing form can lead to users abandoning the process. The following are some tips when designing online forms.

Frontend Infocentre (2009). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability

Writing Questions That Are Easy to Answer    

Have you ever found it difficult to fill out a seemingly simple form? Jarrett explains how to create questions that are easy to understand and accessible by all, focusing on details, the difference between prompts and fully formed questions, questions that need more explanation, and other aspects.

Jarrett, Caroline. Intercom (2009). Articles>Usability>Forms

Inline Validation in Web Forms

Inline validation gives people several types of real-time feedback: It can confirm an appropriate answer, suggest valid answers, and provide regular updates to help people stay within necessary limits. These bits of feedback can be presented before, during and / or after users provide answers.

Wroblewski, Luke. List Apart, A (2009). Articles>Web Design>Forms>JavaScript

Increase Conversions in Long Web Forms by Resolving the Accidental Back Button Activation Issue

The issue of accidentally activating the browser back button through the keyboard while interacting with a long web form is applicable to users across expertise levels. The time and effort wasted by the user can be said as proportional to the number of input fields filled by the user before accidentally exiting the page. Since no application feedback indicating cause of the error to the user is provided, depending upon user expertise, the user may or may not realize the cause of the error. Realizing what went wrong does not guarantee the possibility of reverting the error either. This leads to unnecessary loss in form conversions despite favorable user intent. A solution to resolve this issue (that the author hopes becomes standard practice) to plug the hole for lost conversion that translates to big numbers in absolute terms for high traffic websites is also provided.

Rautela, Abhay. evolt (2009). Design>Human Computer Interaction>Interaction Design>Forms

(Almost) Never Add a Reset Button to a Form

Next time you consider adding a reset button to a form, think it through very carefully first. Does the user really benefit from being able to reset the form? Is being able to reset the form to its initial state so valuable that it is worth the risk of the user losing the data they have entered? Probably not.

456 Berea Street (2009). Articles>Web Design>Forms>Usability

Strategies on How To Motivate Users to Sign Up Through Design

Be it web-based applications or online services, they are taking the Internet by storm. Many websites introducing these services are created and launched to get users to sign up and use the software (hopefully for a long-term). The question is: How do we get users from the unfamiliar zone into the interested zone and subsequently becoming a first time use?

Onextrapixel (2009). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design>Forms