HTML and XHTML
This technique relates to:
The objective of this technique is to allow the user to control when an action is performed, rather than having the action occur as a side effect of choosing a value for the select
element. The user may inspect the different values of the select
element, or may accidentally choose the wrong value, without causing the action to occur. When the user is satisfied with their choice, they select the button to perform the action.
This is particularly important for users who are choosing the value of the select
element via the keyboard, since navigating through the options of the select
element changes the value of the control.
A Web page lets the user choose any month of any year and display the calendar for that month. After the user has set the month and year, he displays the calendar by pressing the "Show" button. This example relies on client-side scripting to implement the action.
Example Code:
<label for="month">Month:</label>
<select name="month" id="month">
<option value="1">January</option>
<option value="2"> February</option>
...
<option value="12">December</option>
</select>
<label for="year">Year:</label>
<input type="text" name="year" id="year">
<input type="button" value="Show" onclick = "...">
A select
element contains a list of possible actions. The action is not performed until the user presses the "Do it" button.
Example Code:
<form action="http://somesite.com/action" method="post">
<label for="action">Options:</label>
<select name="action" id="action">
<option value="help">Help</option>
<option value="reset">Reset</option>
<option value="submit">Submit</option>
</select>
<button type="submit" name="submit" value="submit">Do It </button>
</form>
Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.
For each select
element/button element combination:
Check that focus (including keyboard focus) on an option in the select
element does not result in any actions
Check that selecting the button performs the action associated with the current select
value
All checks are true.