Provide ‘required information’ indicators
- Use images with the alternative text set to ‘required’ or ‘required information’
- ...or use characters, such as '*' (asterisk)
- ...or use real words, such as ‘required’
- For accessibility reasons, do not indicate the required information by using only a colour change by itself.
You can use colour though to make it stand out more
- Avoid using database jargon such as 'field', such as 'required field' - to most people a field is where cows graze!
Provide clear and concise instructions at the start of the form, information such as:
- The purpose of form
- The number of pages and the potential time it should take
- Advance notice about information that might be needed for successful completion. For example
- National Insurance numbers
- account numbers
- reference codes
- Advance notice about any time limitations or timeouts
Provide required format instructions and/or examples to clarify and explain input requirements:
- Place near to the input
- Ideally before the input, and ...
- CODE:... ideally within the <label> tab
- CODE:If not possible, use the title attribute as well as a visible format example
Provide help where it is needed
- Ideally with text displayed on the form itself...
- ... if not, use an ‘info’ or ‘help’ link to a pop-out or pop-up [see 4c]
Notes and discussion points
Are required information indicators always required? What about ‘optional’ indicators?
If the majority of the form needs to be filled in, it makes sense to only highlight those elements that are not required. Do this using obvious text such as the word ‘optional’.
Do not mix form types, either use forms with required indicators or optional indicators but not both.
What about in-page validation?
[see 5d] for more on in-page validation