Hello Julian, If you are unsure about what an HTML tag is there for, look up in the W3C specs. http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/interact/forms.html#edef-FIELDSET
It is pretty clear to me there that <fieldset> element exists for the purpose of grouping form elements together, and not for other purposes. It aids accessibility and overall meaning of (larger) forms. Hence I would strongly argue that <fieldset> should not be used outside a <form> and should not be used for purposes of styling for we have CSS. Hope this helps. Regards, Jason www.flexewebs.com www.flexewebs.wordpress.com www.twitter.com/flexewebs www.facebook.com/pages/London/Flexewebs/11264349395 On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 8:44 PM, Julián Landerreche <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > A workmate come with this idea, which then I have searched on web and > haven't found too much information about it, but this: [1] and [2]. > > The idea: using fieldset and legend for adding structural markup/labes [3]. > > It seems that using fieldsets _outside_ forms doesn't make the code to > invalidate. Also, in HTML 4.01, legend is required, but optional in XHTML. > > Currently, I like the approach of adding structural markup using a heading > (<h*n* class="structural">) even just a simple <strong > class="structural">, and if necessary, hide them by CSS > I borrowed the idea from NetRelations.se and 456bereastreet.com. > > Example: > > <div id="main-nav"> > <strong class="structural">Main navigation</strong> <!-- or <h*n*>Main > navigation</h*n*> --> > <ul> > <li><a>Section 1</a></li> > <li><a>Section 2</a></li> > <li><a>Section 3</a></li> > </ul> > </div> > > So, applying fieldset and legend this could be rewritten like this: > > <fieldset id="main-nav"> > <legend class="structural">Main navigation</legend> > <ul> > <li><a>Section 1</a></li> > <li><a>Section 2</a></li> > <li><a>Section 3</a></li> > </ul> > </fieldset> > > Another example: a list of actions (that are in fact, simple links, so, > it's just another navigation) where it could make even more sense. > > <fieldset id="actions"> > <legend class="structural">You can do the following</legend> > <ul> > <li><a>Create</a></li> > <li><a>Delete</a></li> > <li><a>Edit</a></li> > </ul> > </fieldset> > > > Putting aside anything related to CSS styling (legends could be difficult > to style, but aren't really difficult to hide using display:none; although > using position: absolute; left:-9999px could be better for accesibility, but > that positioning method on legends has inconsistencies across browsers): > > 1. Could there be accessibility issues using fieldset/legend outside a > form? > 2. Or could this method enhance the accessibility (in fact, structural > labels enhance accessibility)? > 3. Is there any other research/resource that can add some light on this? > > Thanks. > Julián. > > [1] http://www.opendesigns.org/forum/discussion/2047/ > [2] http://drupal.org/node/233928 > [3] http://www.usability.com.au/resources/source-order.cfm > > > > > > > > > > > ******************************************************************* > 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] *******************************************************************
