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Re: using title attribute as form field label

for

From: Vincent Young
Date: Nov 7, 2011 3:12PM

> In other words, are there any advantages of these CSS or ARIA techniques
over simply using the title attribute that I should be aware of?

Zoe, one situation I can think of is when you have interested parties that
do not want the title showing up on hover (for whatever reason). I've run
into this more on the private more than public sector. For me, the
particular form and situation dictated what was most appropriate. Often,
I'm not able to do what I really want to and have to get a bit creative.
For example labels inside input. Would like to use an actual label as the
visual value (
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/makingcompactformsmoreaccessible/), but
project constraints do not allow this or title, so I might do some CSS
hiding. I'm a traditionalist as you are when it comes to forms and try to
use labels and title where appropriate. Forms can get complicated so
aria-labelledby, aria-desscribedby, CSS, etc. have their place.


On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 1:50 PM, GILLENWATER, ZOE M < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I know and preach that it's best to use a label for every form field, but
> in those cases where it's really not possible or practical (such as one
> label describing more than one field), what's the best alternative
> technique? Title attribute? Always, or just in some situations?
>
> Using the title attribute on the form field has good support and is simple
> to implement. In fact, is there any reason to even consider other
> techniques, such as using CSS to hide a label or using aria-labelledby? In
> other words, are there any advantages of these CSS or ARIA techniques over
> simply using the title attribute that I should be aware of?
>
> Thanks,
> Zoe
>
> Zoe Gillenwater
> Technical Architect, Design Standards Accessibility
> Creative Experience Team
> AT&T eCommerce
>
> o: 919-241-4083
> e: <EMAIL REMOVED>
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