[thelist] label on search box?

thelist at cjmarsh.com thelist at cjmarsh.com
Sat Aug 27 19:47:59 CDT 2005


Stuart

> so all input elements should have a label for accessibility, 
> right, but what I wonder is where should you put the label on 
> the search field?
> 
> many websites use the format:
> 
> Search  |______________|  [ Go ]
> 
> and here it is obvious that you put the label on the word 
> search. But Jakob Nielsen recommends that all websites use the format:
> 
>  |______________|  [ Search ]
> 
> so where do you put the label on that? You can't put it on 
> the submit button. Is there is something else you can put in 
> the input box to be the text alternative if there is no text 
> to make into the label. Or is a label/alternative not 
> necessary if you only have one input box and a submit button 
> with value="Search".

I'm not an accessibility expert by any means, but would it be acceptable to
simply include the label as you have it in the first example, and then use
CSS to ensure that it is not visible in conventional browsers? For example;
have it moved off the screen to the left.

Regards

Chris Marsh

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