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Accessible Form Validation Errors

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From: Austin, Darrel
Date: Sep 2, 2004 11:59AM

I'm working on getting our contact form for our new web site as accessible
as we can get it to be.

Are there any best practices for creating accessible error messages when the
form is not valid?

For instance, when there's an error, here's what I'm displaying now:

==================================================* There is a problem with your submission. Please check the form below for
any errors (shown in bold red). Please correct the errors and resubmit your
message.

Your Name: * Name Required
[ text field ]
==================================================
I'm displaying a notice at the top stating an error, and then pointing out
the specific errors next to each field. It's a short form (4 fields) but are
there any suggestions as to how to make it a tad more accessible? I was
thinking of using a different error notice at the top that would explicitely
mention the specific fields with errors and link to their anchors directly.
Thoughts?

-Darrel