Tip for Creating Forms

Tips for Creating Effective Forms
Label all control elements clearly and concisely
Use horizontal lines, tables, and line breaks to separate topical groups from one another
Use field sets to organize common groups of fields, especially option buttons
Use the tab order to ensure that users will move correctly from one field to another
Tips for Creating Effective Forms
Use option buttons, check boxes, and selection lists whenever possible to limit a user’s choice of entries, thus reducing the chance of an erroneous data value. Use input boxes only when the field has no predefined list of values.
Use selection lists for items with several possible options. Use option buttons for items with few options. Use a check box for each item with only two possible values.
Tips for Creating Effective Forms
Let users know the correct format for input box text by inserting default text in the appropriate format (for example, insert the text string, “mm/dd/yyyy” in a Date input box to indicate the format for inserting date values
Use password fields for sensitive or confidential information (such as passwords)
Because form elements differ between browsers, view your form on different browsers and different browser versions to ensure that the form displays correctly in all situations