[whatwg] The legend element

Markus Ernst derernst at gmx.ch
Tue Oct 13 04:00:41 PDT 2009


Ian Hickson schrieb:
[...]

> I would recommend not using <label> and <fieldset> for rows 2 and 3.
> 
> As in:
> 
>   Placeholder outputs of 2nd row:
> 
>     {label}: What is favourite pet?
> 
>     {input-html}:
>     <p><label><input type="radio" name="Pet" value="Cat">Cat</label></p>
>     <p><label><input type="radio" name="Pet" value="Dog">Dog</label></p>
>     <p><label><input type="radio" name="Pet" value="Ant">Ant</label></p>
> 
> 
>   Placeholder outputs of 3rd row:
> 
>     {label}: When are you born?
> 
>     {input-html}:
>     <label>Month:
>      <select name="Month">
>        <option value="01">January</option>
>        ...
>      </select>
>     </label>
>     <label>Year: <input type="text" name="Year" size="4"></label>
> 
> Why isn't that satisfactory?
> 

It is, if omitting <fieldset> does not do any harm, such as lower the 
accessibility of the form. If this is the case, and I read paragraph 
4.10.2 of the spec correctly, <fieldset> serves exactly 2 purposes:
- Adds possibility to group-disable it's descendants
- Can assign it's descendants to a form, when they are placed outside 
the form element in the code

Is this correct? Then it might be nice to clarify this with a few words 
in the spec, as "The fieldset element represents a set of form controls 
optionally grouped under a common name" can be read as implying 
structuring and thus accessibility matters.



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