Usage of TITLE attribute in forms with <label for=".">

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Usage of TITLE attribute in forms with <label for=".">

accessible forms, title attribute with <label>

mita4eto

9:17 am on Jan 27, 2010 (gmt 0)

How is the usage of 'TITLE' attribute on form fields usable and
appropriate?

Given a form field has an associated <label for="..."> it seems to me the usage of pretty much redundant 'TITLE' text (duplicating the label)
somewhat annoying as it usually causes the appearance of tool-tip
when moving the mouse over the field, and would be much more
annoying to me if used on all form fields which otherwise have
<label for="...">s associated.

What's your opinion, when is the usage of 'TITLE' attribute on a
form field appropriate, or is its usage appropriate all the time?

ergophobe

5:58 pm on Jan 27, 2010 (gmt 0)

There are some examples on the W3C site. One example might be a form with an image-based submit button. The INPUT field might take a TITLE attribute in that case in order to improve accessibility.

[w3.org...]
[w3.org...]

mita4eto

10:00 am on Jan 28, 2010 (gmt 0)

Thanks for the feedback, ergophobe!

The question is if there is a label associated with any input component, is it redundant to use also a TITLE attribute in the input component? I read in the W3C WCAG 2.0 guidelines and prescriptions but wanted also to ask the experts in this forum to share their opinions.

phranque

2:31 pm on Jan 29, 2010 (gmt 0)

the correct answer is that you want to avoid "stuttering".
there is no precise answer to the general question but typically the title attribute would be used when the label element cannot be used.
if the title is repeating the text in the label it will cause stuttering.
if it is adding extra descriptive and useful information about purpose, for example, you are probably ok.
use the Web Developer add-on with firefox and turn on title attributes and you will probably get a good idea of what the right answer is for your specific implementation.

mita4eto

4:01 pm on Jan 29, 2010 (gmt 0)

Thanks for the input, phranque!

Yes, you are right, if there's no way how to use the <label> tag for the input, then "title" is needed; or if it brings additional clarification.