web form design (web visions 2009)

WEB FORM ELEMENTSChristopher Schmitt | @teleject on twitter

( )= ( )/

• Checkboxes

• Input:

• File

• Radio

• Text

• Select:

• Multiple Items

• Single Item

• Submit Button

• Textarea

FORM ELEMENTS

CSS PROPERTIES

• background-color• background-image• border• border-color• border-style• border-width• color• font-family• font-size• font-weight

• height• letter-spacing• line-height• margin• padding• text-align• text-decoration• text-indent• width• word-spacing

7.2 55.567

8b2

8.59

1.52.03.0

34b

1

7.2 9 1.52.03.0

234b

3,520screengrabs

RADIO BUTTONS

CSS HEIGHT

FF 2

FF 2

FF 3

Chrome 1

CSS WIDTHFF 3

FF 3

Safari 3

Safari 3

Safari 4b

Safari 4b

CSS TEXT INDENTChrome 1

Safari 4b

Safari 4b

Opera 9

Opera 9

CSS BACKGROUND COLORIE 6

IE 7

IE 8b2

Opera 9

Opera 9

CSS BACKGROUND IMGFirefox 2

Firefox 2

IE 6

IE 7

IE 8b2

Opera 9

Opera 9

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & TEXTAREA

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & INPUT TEXT FIELDS

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & SUBMIT BUTTON

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & SELECT BOXES (ONE)

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & SELECT BOXES (MULTI)

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & FILE UPLOADS

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & CHECKBOXES

0

5

10

15

20

IE6 IE7 IE8b2 Ch Mac FF3 Win FF3 Mac Op9 Win Op9 Mac S3 Win S3 Mac S4b Win S4b

Yes No Somewhat N/A

CSS & RADIO BUTTONS

Radio Buttons

Check Boxes

File Uploads

Select(Multi)

Select(One)

Input Text

Text Area

0

25

50

75

100

height letter-spacing line-height margin padding text-align text-decoration text-indent width word-spacing

Y N S N/A

CSS PROPERTIES

0

25

50

75

100

bkgd-color bkgd-image border border-color border-style border-width color font-family font-size font-weight

Y N S N/A

CSS PROPERTIES

Text Indent

Text Decoration

Font Family

Border Color

Font Weight

Word Spacing

Height

Color

Background Image

Border

Font Size

Border Style

Letter Spacing

Padding

Margin

Background Color

Width

Text Indent

Text Decoration

Font Family

Border Color

Font Weight

Word Spacing

Height

Color

Background Image

Border

Font Size

Border Style

Letter Spacing

Padding

Margin

Background Color

Width

Radio Buttons

Check Boxes

File Uploads

Select(Multi)

Select(One)

Input Text

Text Area

LET BROWSER VENDORS KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

• Internet Explorer

• http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/contact.aspx

• Opera

• http://my.opera.com/community/forums/forum.dml?id=24

• http://groups.google.com/group/opera.wishlist/topics

• Safari

• http://lists.webkit.org/mailman/listinfo/webkit-dev

• Google Chrome

• http://groups.google.com/group/chromium-dev

LET BROWSER VENDORS KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

• Web Form Elements Design Quiz

• Part 1: http://tr.im/lp2k

• Part 2: http://tr.im/lp2g

• http://www.WebFormElements.com/

• 3,500 form element screen captures

• HTML form element look-up tables (free):

• http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596527419/appendixd/appd.pdf

TAKE AWAYS

• Designing for forms is hard for HTML+CSS

• Even the same browser, different platform render Web forms differently

• To help you discern the safety of CSS on a Web form, use WebFormElements.com

• Reviewed which browsers are most hazardous

TAKE AWAYS

• Reviewed which CSS properties are supported the most.

• Reviewed what high-profile sites are doing to design for forms: Nothing.

• Call to action!

• Let browser vendors hear you or they won’t care to fix the problem.

• With HTML5 form elements, problem is going to get worse.

THANK YOU!Christopher Schmitt

schmitt@heatvision.com@teleject on twitter

CREATIVE COMMONS CITATIONShttp://www.flickr.com/photos/lanuiop/2234239588/

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/hiddedevries/2594048276/http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsaint/2992217972/