[thelist] [Usability] Where does the "*" required-marker go?

Liam Delahunty ldelahunty at britstream.com
Mon Oct 14 06:02:01 CDT 2002


Abhay S. Kushwaha wrote:

> 1. Where does the "*" that marks required fields go?
> 2. Next to the field legend or next to the field itself?
> 3. To the left or to the right?

To the right of the label. Almost always in a table like so:
<tr><td>Label *</td><td>input field</td></tr>

and (very rarely) I've used:
<tr><td>Label</td><td>*</td><td>field</td></tr>
so you end up with a distinctive column showing the required fields.

> 4. Any particular reasons for your choice?
None that I could back up with data.

I usually put the * required above the form, so the user has read that
first. Hopefully. Also on the error check I'll highlight the missing field,
usually by giving the label cell a background colour which matches the error
report.  Like so: http://www.britstream.com/contact.php

kr,
Liam




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