[thelist] How do I submit a single form thru either of twolinksusing JavaScript AND pass a hidden value depending on the link?

Jeff Howden jeff at jeffhowden.com
Thu Apr 21 18:14:11 CDT 2005


Chris,

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> From: Chris Kavanagh
>
> > > [...] the look-n-feel drafted by the designer doesnt
> > > take into account buttons. [...]
> >
> > So you'd rather make the designer happy than do the
> > right thing and make it accessible to everyone,
> > regardless of whether they have scripting enabled or
> > not?
>
> Jeff, you can't possibly know what "the right thing" to
> do is without knowing more about the situation. [...]
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

If I was new to the industry, perhaps that statement would have some
validity to it.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
> [...] Accessibility is important, but it's only *one*
> concern that a good designer has to balance against many
> others.
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

No, not really.  I don't care whether the designer mandates the submit
buttons be links or not.  Honestly, it's not the designers job to dictate
functionality.  So, I dare say it's not the designer's place to tell me I
can't use submit buttons styled to look like links (even though from a
usability standpoint, that's ridiculous as there's piles of research that
indicates that users become confused when confronted with form elements that
don't look like form elements, buttons in most cases).

Has anyone noticed that the web is getting less "designery" and more
functional driven?  Image, branding, focus, etc. still have their place
online, but if the finished product doesn't *work* (dare I say even "as the
user expects") then the project is not nearly as successful.  Personally, I
find this to be a very good thingT.  Some conventions are important to stick
to in order to make the experience less about discovering why the interface
seems so f'ed up and unusable and more about the message or functionality
the experience is supposed to provide.  Is it more important that the user
gets to the information or functionality being provided (laws in some
countries say it's a requirement) or that it looks pretty (irrespective of
whether it's actually accessible to or functional for the audience).

Jeff
------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Howden - Web Application Specialist
Resume - http://jeffhowden.com/about/resume/
Code Library - http://evolt.jeffhowden.com/jeff/code/



More information about the thelist mailing list