10 Save all files. You created a form element; next, you’ll insert some form fields.
Inserting text form elements Text fields are the workhorses of all the form elements. Text fields are the basic vehicles for gathering unstructured text and numeric data, and it’s hard to imagine a form without them. In fact, many forms are composed exclusively of text-input fields. In the upcoming exercises, you’ll insert basic text fields, Spry text fields, password text fields, password-confirmation text fields, and text areas. Before you can start, however, confirm that Dreamweaver is configured to add form elements in their most accessible format.
Setting preferences for accessible forms Accessibility technologies place special requirements on form elements. Assistive technology devices, such as screen readers, require precise code that allows them to correctly read forms and individual form elements. Dreamweaver provides an option that outputs form code in the proper format. These preferences may be set as the default configuration; if so, merely confirm that the options for accessible forms are set. 1 Choose Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Dreamweaver > Preferences (Mac). 2 When the Preferences dialog box appears, select the Accessibility category. 3 In the Accessibility category, make sure that the Form Objects option is selected. Click OK.
As you’ll see in the following exercises, when accessibility for form objects is enabled, a dialog box appears before the form element is inserted. This dialog box has a number of options for including a form element label, as well as other special attributes. You’ll learn more about these attributes later.
ADOBE DREAMWEAVER CS5 CLASSROOM IN A BOOK
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