Form is accessible |
Section 508 1194.22(n)
Issue Description The page contains a FORM element whose components appear to be laid out by a table. The table may make the form unusable.
How to check Make sure the form elements and their associated labels are properly rendered by non-graphically enabled browsers. In particular, make sure the form is still usable after the table used to lay it out is linearized. A simple way to do this is to strip out the table tags. Another quick test is to run a piece of paper down the page and read your table line by line.
Issue Explanation Using a table to lay out a form may make the form unusable. When the user accesses the page through a reading browser or through a device with a small screen such as a PDA or a cell phone, the table cells may be presented in a linear fashion (linearized). This may position the labels of text fields, checkboxes, or radio buttons in unintended places.

For a detailed discussion on the effect of layout tables on navigation, see http://www.jimthatcher.com/webcourse4.htm.

Another thing to consider is the tabbing order of the form elements. By pressing the TAB key on the keyboard, the user can move sequentially from one element to the next in the order defined on the HTML page. Sometimes, however, you might want to specify a different order. This can be achieved with the TABINDEX attribute of the INPUT, A, BUTTON, AREA, OBJECT, SELECT, and TEXTAREA tags inside a form.

You can also use the ACCESSKEY attribute to associate keyboard accelerators to activate the form elements.