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Re: Legend wrap (or not)

for

From: Patrick Lauke
Date: Aug 31, 2007 4:00AM

> Jukka K. Korpela

> So this means that if we design a form logically, using
> explanatory texts
> as needed for filling out the form, using legend (or heading)
> elements as
> short heading-like captions, and using concise labels associated with
> input elements via markup, the form will be generally
> accessible, though
> with some need for mode switching to some users. And I would
> expect those
> users to be or to get familiar with mode switching, since the vast
> majority of forms - perhaps excluding very simple and
> intuitive search
> forms - on web pages have not been designed to suit the
> specifics of the
> software they use.

It's a balancing act. Yes, users should be aware of how to switch between modes, and yes the majority of forms in the wild are marked up in such a crappy way that they've been forced to learn this...but, if you want to make the forms more usable, you'll try to minimise the need for mode switching and backtracking through the form to get to the explanatory text and try to make the legends and labels themselves carry enough information to make the form understandable.

P