HTML Form Elements


This chapter describes all of the different HTML form elements avalible.


The HTML <form> Elements

The HTML <form> element can contain one or more of the following form elements:


The <input> Element

One of the most used form elements is the <input> element

The <input> element can be displayed in several ways, depending on the type attribute.


The <label> Element

The <label> element defines a label for several form elements.

The <label> element is useful for people using screen-readers, as the screen-reader will read the label out loud when the user focus on the form element.

The <label> element also help users who have difficulty clicking on very small regions (such as radio buttons or checkboxes) - because when the user clicks the text within the <label> element, it toggles the radio button/checkbox.

The for attribute of the <label> tag should be equal to the id attribute of the <input> element to bind them together.


The <select> Element

The <select> element defines a drop-down list:

The <option> elements defines an option that can be selected.

By default, the first item in the drop-down list is selected.

To define a pre-selected option, add the selected attribute to the option:

Visible Values:

Use the size attribute to specify the number of visible values:

Allow Multiple Selections:

Use the multiple attribute to allow the user to select more than one value:


The <textarea> Element

The <textarea> element defines a multi-line input field (a text area):

The rows attribute specifies the visible number of lines in a text area.

The cols attribute specifies the visible width of a text area.

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The <button> Element

The <button> element defines a clickable button:

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Note: Always specify the type attribute for the button element.


The <fieldset> and <legend> Elements

The <fieldset> element is used to group related data in a form.

The <legend> element defines a caption for the <fieldset> element.

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The <datalist> Element

The <datalist> element specifies a list of pre-defined options for an <input> element.

Users will see a drop-down list of the pre-defined options as they input data.

The list attribute of the <input> element, must refer to the id attribute of the <datalist> element.