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Form validation - on submit or on each required field

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From: Liko, Todd
Date: Jun 26, 2014 8:05AM

Hello all.

I am seeking your thoughts on which type of form validation is preferred. A form with required fields (with proper notifications) can be validated server side when submitting the form or each field can be validated while completing the form.

With validation on submit, if there are errors, the form is refreshed with the focus returning to the top of the form where the errors are listed. When validating each field while completing the form, the user is notified of the error right away and focus is returned to the field.

In my opinion, both methods meet WCAG 2.0. However, keeping usability in mind, is there a preference to which method is used.

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Todd Liko
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