Aug 27 2009

Argh, it really annoys me when web designers have check boxes or radio buttons that do not have clickable text attached. If you’re writing your website correctly (semantics-wise at least) then you shouldn’t have this problem because you’ll be making use of <label for=”…”>. It’s really not hard, and it’s such a simple solution for a big (well, medium) usability issue. Note that the value of the for=”…” attribute must match the id=”…” attribue of the element it is meant to label, not the name=”…” attribute as some people think…

Consider making:

<input type="checkbox" name="remember_me" /> Remember my login

Into:

<input type="checkbox" name="remember_me" id="remember_me" />
<label for="remember_me">Remember my login</label>

kthxbai.

2 Responses to “Rant: Clickable Text and Checkboxes / Radios”

  1. Links for 27th August 2009 | Velcro City Tourist Board says:

    [...] Rant: Clickable Text and Checkboxes / Radios [...]

  2. Daniel says:

    That really annoys me too. It’s not a difficult concept, the more clickable area your control has, the easier it is to use. It’s a right pain when you click on the sentence thinking “Yes! That one!” only to have it not work and make you jump through a hoop. I find it even more infuriating when big sites don’t include it either, like government and commercial sites. The sites people are paid to work on! Use s! Nobody will thank you for it, but nobody will complain about it either, and you’ll know you have friendlier forms than the rest! (That and it gives you another element you can use with CSS!)

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