Forms and Web standards

Hi. I was wondering if there was a 'best practice' for formatting an html form. I assume that you are not supposed to use tables for this.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Cerberus

Junior Poster

162 posts since Sep 2006

Reputation Points: 27

Solved Threads: 14

4 Years Ago

Hello,
I am sorry, but I really don't know what you mean...
Can you please be more specific?

Shaffer.

Shaffer

Newbie Poster

21 posts since Mar 2007

Reputation Points: 13

Solved Threads: 2

4 Years Ago

Show Comments

Well...

Use the tag to collect related parts of the form together (if a large form).

Apply to help indicate what the form pertains to.

Ensure all Inputs have a tag.
Also ensure all Labels/Inputs have unique IDs.

The label should go first for most inputs, (text, text area etc.), and last for things like Checkbox lists, radio groups etc.

Use the font-size tag for the Label/Inputs, using % or EM units.

Apply styling for :focus for inputs so that users can see which form element that are currently in (such as changing the BG colour or altering the Border Colour etc.).
(NOTE: doesn't work on IE6.)

Consider applying a little JS to enhance usability (autofocus the first part of a form and enable IE6 to use the :focus).

-------

If it helps....

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" ><head>
<title>Center Block Element 2</title>
<style type="text/css">

html
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
font-size: 100%;
font-family: trebuchet, arial, sans-serif;
}

body
{
margin: 0;
padding: 10px;
font-size: 62.5%;
}

form
{
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
width: 500px;
}

fieldset
{
margin: 0;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6;
display: block;
}

legend
{
margin: 0 0 15px 0;
padding: 4px 8px;
border: 0px solid #d6d6d6;
font-weight: bold;
font-size: 1.6em;
background-color: #000000;
color: #ffffff;
}


.formelementwrappersingle
{
margin: 2px;
padding: 0;
float: left;
clear: both;
width: 40em;
border: 1px solid #c2c2c2;
background-color: #f6f6f6;
}

.formelementwrapperdoubleinline
{
margin: 2px;
padding: 0;
float:left;
width: 19em;
border: 1px solid #c2c2c2;
background-color: #f6f6f6;
}
.formelementwrapperdoublebreak
{
margin: 2px;
padding: 0;
float:left;
clear: both;
width: 19em;
border: 1px solid #c2c2c2;
background-color: #f6f6f6;
}

label
{
margin: 0;
padding: 3px;
font-weight: bold;
display: block;
width: 15em;
float: left;
font-size: 1.2em;

}

input.textinput, textarea.textarea
{
background-color: #ffff99;
font-size: 1.4em;
border: 1px solid #c2c2c2;
}

input.textinput:focus, textarea.textarea:focus
{
background-color: #ffffff;
font-size: 1.4em;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6;
}


</style>

</head>


<body>    


<form>

<fieldset>
<legend>Test Form 1</legend>

<div class="formelementwrappersingle">
<label for="name">
Name
</label>
<input id="name" name="name" type="text" class="textinput" />
</div>


<div class="formelementwrappersingle">
<label for="description">
Description
</label>
<textarea id="description" name="description" class="textarea"></textarea>
</div>

</fieldset>




<fieldset>
<legend>Test Form 2</legend>

<div class="formelementwrapperdoubleinline">
<label for="colourchoice_0">
  <input type="radio" name="colourchoice" id="colourchoice_0" title="Red" class="radioinput" checked="checked" />
    Red
</label>
</div>
<div class="formelementwrapperdoubleinline">
<label for="colourchoice_1">
  <input type="radio" name="colourchoice" id="colourchoice_1" title="Blue" class="radioinput" />
    Blue
</label>
</div>

</fieldset>




<fieldset>
<legend>Test Form 3</legend>

<div class="formelementwrapperdoublebreak">
<label for="animalchoice_0">
  <input type="radio" name="animalchoice" id="animalchoice_0" title="Cat" class="radioinput" checked="checked" />
    Cat
</label>
</div>
<div class="formelementwrapperdoublebreak">
<label for="animalchoice_1">
  <input type="radio" name="animalchoice" id="animalchoice_1" title="Dog" class="radioinput" />
    Blue
</label>
</div>

</fieldset>

</form>
</body>
</html>

autocrat

Posting Pro in Training

431 posts since Feb 2005

Reputation Points: 63

Solved Threads: 12

4 Years Ago

That's a really good example. Thank you.

Cerberus

Junior Poster

162 posts since Sep 2006

Reputation Points: 27

Solved Threads: 14

4 Years Ago

Not a problem - let me know if you want any extra help with it (Forms can be a sod sometimes (esp. if you don't do them that often!)

autocrat

Posting Pro in Training

431 posts since Feb 2005

Reputation Points: 63

Solved Threads: 12

4 Years Ago

Tables are not deprecated. They are just discouraged for use to format pages for purposes other than tables.

If the form is like an invoice form (with several blanks on each line), there is no reason why you shouldn't use a table to contain it.

Also, the alternate methods the W3C prefers don't always work, don't work inside some other tags, and fall apart if the browser window is reduced in size. So, if you can't get it to work, don't waste hours on it; just use a table instead.

MidiMagic

Nearly a Senior Poster

3,319 posts since Jan 2007

Reputation Points: 730

Solved Threads: 182

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