[IxDA Discuss] Right aligned labels

[Bryan J Busch]

> From: "Field, Carol" <CField at frk.com>
>
> My interaction design team discussed the eye tracking study that  
> recommends placing labels above the text field or right aligning  
> the labels if they are placed before the text field. We'd like to  
> recommend caution in implementing the finding because the form  
> studied was much simpler than the average form and because they  
> seemed to emphasize speed. Accuracy becomes very important when the  
> form is more complex.
>
> o  What if vertical space is an issue?

Heya, Carol,

It's good that you bring up these questions for people to keep in  
mind. But I'm a little confused about vertical space being an issue.  
Is it a case of the designer not wanting the page to scroll, or is a  
block of text being tied to the bottom of an image to create a  
pleasing appearance, maybe? (example: the blue box to the right of  
the biggest photo here: http://nytimesagency.com/)

Given what we know of coding for accessibility -- in this case, make  
sure your design doesn't break when the text size is increased in the  
browser -- it's nearly impossible to plan a web page layout that is  
both accessible *and* allows for limited vertical space.

Or maybe it's something else you were referring to :)

- Bryan