Kevin Futter wrote:
On 15/11/05 3:20 PM, "Andy Kirkwood, Motive" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Geoff,
(To pick up on Patrick's point.) Have you come across a scenario on a
website where it seems appropriate to use an input element to
indicate that an option exists but cannot be edited by the user?
Perhaps it's preferable to show such content as text rather than as
an input? (Seems like an instance of "yes, we have no bananas": yes
this is an input, but no you can't.)
Best regards,
I actually used read only input fields recently for our online subject
selections. Compulsory subjects were pulled out of a database and displayed
as read only input fields, while other fields were normal <select> elements.
Why not just display the compulsory subjects as plain text? Because then
there is a visual and cognitive dissonance between the two information sets
- they can seem unrelated, especially when you consider that high school
students rarely read a web form's accompanying text, no matter how
important. I think in this case the fact that the information was displayed
with as part of the form avoided that problem, while using the "readonly"
attribute and styling the input text a medium grey took care of the rest.
What you are saying is completely logical. In some contexts, it would
be much better to show the data retrieved in markup that has more
semantic value and is more appropriate to styling.
The only problem you have here is when you go to the web programmer and
suggest your idea (which is a good one), he say "Now I have to go and
write two sets of markup to address those with purely read only access
(no form elements), and those with access rights for modification
(requires form elements)". If they are generated by different systems
from the same data set, as can be the case, then I think that is a
better option.
But it comes to money, try convincing the web manager, the Ex Director
of It and all the rest of them... Good luck.
-----------
Geoff Deering
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