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Re: A List of Form Elements?

for

From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Mar 12, 2012 5:24PM

Jesse,

I am more in the in the use divs and <fieldset>s to lay out the form.
In JAWS, at least, you can press insert+f5 to get a list of controls
per page. Using that + labels + effectively using fieldsets (as you
noted) will let a user know where they are.

--
Ryan E. Benson



On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 6:56 PM, Jesse Hausler < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> There's a conversation going on here about using a <ul> to separate items in a form:
>
> <form class="aform">
> <ul class=" listMedium">
> <li>
> <label for="xyz">My Label1</label>
> <input class="ainput" name="xyzname" id="xyz" />
> </li>
> <li>
> <label for="xyz2">My Label2</label>
> <input class="ainput" name="xyzname2" id="xyz2" />
> </li>
> ...
> </ul>
> </form>
>
> The accessibility folk are looking at this as being similar to "tables for layout", and are suggesting using a div around each label and it's input to provide layout and spacing.
>
> <div class="form-row">...<label>...<input>...</div>
> <div class="form-row">...<label>...<input>...</div>
>
> The arguments for using the list include:
>
> -          A list is a list, of anything: data, images, posts, inputs, etc..
>
> -          Lists can add value because AT can be used to announce how many items are in a form.
>
> The arguments against are pretty much:
>
> -          This semantic doesn't belong here because it's not a list of inputs, it's a form, and superflous semantics are a bad thing.
>
> -          Use of list gives AT extra information that is not relevant.
>
> -          A <dl> would be more appropriate because it would draw a further connection between input and label.. but <dl> is probably overkill/redundant in this use case.
>
>
>
> Assuming fieldsets and legends are being used appropriately, what do you all think?
>
> Thanks!
>
> ---
> Jesse Hausler
> Sr. Accessibility Specialist | salesforce.com<http://www.salesforce.com/>;
> Tel (415) 536-8902 | Fax (415) 944-1762
>
>