Tips for Creating Effective Forms

  1. Label all control elements clearly and concisely

    First Name:

  2. Use Horizontal lines, tables, and line breaks to separate topical groups from one another.

    First Name

  3. Use Field set to organize common groups of fields, especially option buttons

    Birth Month January
    February
    March

  4. Use option buttons, check boxes, and selection lists whenever possible to limit a user's choice of entries, thus reducing the possiblity of errors. Use input boxes only when the field has no predefined list of values.

    Menu List-Select Your Relaxation

  5. Use selection lists for items with several possible options. Use option buttons for items with few options. The check boxes allow for more than one possible value.

    Birth Year Range 1970-1979
    1980-1989
    1990-2000

  6. Let the user know the corrrect format for input text box

    Date:

  7. Use password fields for sensitive or confidential information

    Credit Card No.

  8. Since form elements differ between browsers, view the form in different browsers to ensure the form displays correctly.
Doris Cuffey, Instructor