I agree with Jason, why not use both!
There's something to be said about only using an * approach to indicate a
mandatory field. In a recent project, even when explicitly saying on the
screen that * means mandatory, the user still got it wrong.
Providing a visual clue is a very good approach to
this, which is why the <strong> element worked so well for you. This doesn't
have to be limited to the label i.e. the field itself can have a different
coloured border (though I'd reserve a red border for input fields that have
caused an error).
Using both to indicate mandatory is also good for accessibility. WCAG
guidelines say you shouldn't infer using colour alone, it certainly won't
help screen readers. Therefore, I'd say use both.
Steve Workmam.
PA Consulting Group,
123 Buckingham Palace Road,
London
SW1W 9SR
www.paconsulting.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On 25/02/2008, russ - maxdesign <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > I can't speak for screen readers since I've never used one my self...
> > But would there be any reason you couldn't do both and please the
> > client and the screen reader(assuming it does help them)? a simple
> > <strong>* First Name</strong>
> >
> > Just something I thought of :)
>
>
> Interesting discussion. You could also use more meaningful flags like the
> word "Required" instead of "*" and style this content in red/bold. This
> means that everyone, including screen reader users understand the
> implications much more clearly (as long as this information is included
> inside the label element.
>
> For example:
>
> <label for="details-email">
> Email <span class="required">(Required)</span>:
> </label>
>
> Or...
>
> <label for="details-email">
> Email <strong>(Required)</strong>:
> </label>
>
> Then you could easily style it with something like:
>
> label strong (or "label span.required")
> {
> color: red;
> font-weight: bold
> text-transform: uppercase;
> font-size: 85%;
> }
>
> You can even position this "required" content after the <input> element
> using absolute positioning as Derek Featherstone has proposed.
>
> HTH
>
> Russ
>
>
>
>
>
>
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