We come across this sort of thing a lot during user testing and we find that default text in textboxes and text areas causes loads of problems. However, using the default value of a combobox as the label generally works well and I have never seen it cause any problems.
I suppose there could be a minor problem if that field also appears on a subsequent page (such as in a multi-stage transaction) because it will be then set to the value the user selected originally rather than the default value. However, not only is this situation rare, but the user ought to recognise that it is displaying the value they selected. The technique works particularly well when more than one combobox is used for a single piece of data such as date of birth. The use of multiple labels for such fields causes both visual and audible (for screen readers) clutter, in which case it is often preferable to have a single text label for the whole group and use the default combobox values as labels for each field. Steve Green Director Test Partners Ltd / First Accessibility www.testpartners.co.uk www.accessibility.co.uk Rob O'Rourke <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi all, > > Just a quick question, I was wondering if anyone has had any > experience with or has read something about the accessibility of a form > that uses the value attribute to convey what the field is for. I'm > talking about those forms where there is something already filled in for > the field to tell you what it's for. I'm not keen on the practice myself > but the case I'm curious about is when using a <select> drop down box. > The search form here http://www.tradeonly.co.uk takes this approach. > The site isn't by any means a shining example of accessibility anyway > but I'm just interesting in your views on this approach. > > I was thinking about positioning the labels off-screen as a > workaround (much as I don't want to but it's a request from above). > > Cheers, > Rob > > > > ******************************************************************* > List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm > Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm > Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ******************************************************************* > > ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
