HTML forms are dreadfully primitive. Sure, they were a leap forward when they first appeared on the scene, but that was years ago, and little has changed since then. A few interface widgets with the ability to fire server-side scripts may have been cool in 1994, but we've come to expect more in the hyperspeed development of Web browsers.
Unfortunately, the browser developers haven't really pushed the technology behind HTML forms much since the early days. Cougar's new forms draft tries to fix that. While it doesn't attempt to record current practice like the other drafts we've looked at, it does go a long way toward a future when whole applications can be built with an HTML front end. The draft also points to ways forms can be made more accessible for the disabled through alternative browsers. How, for example, would you select an item from a pop-up menu with a speech browser? (And please, no flames about degradable HTML. When your car's Web-based navigation system is running on voice commands, you'll be grateful for this stuff.)
So what's being proposed? Lots of features that you're probably already used to if you use a graphical interface like Windows 95 or the Macintosh. Take, for example, keyboard shortcuts. Using the accesskey attribute on a form element would allow the author of a document to define keys that trigger the form. So, you could bind the "s" key to submit, saving your users a trip to the mouse. Another nicety: label allows you to bind a form element with a description. Currently, a Web browser has no way of knowing that a bit of text goes with, say, a radio button. Weird line breaks can cause rendering problems, and usability testing shows that users often click the word rather than the widget. Now, by putting a label around the pair, you'll be able to solve that annoying problem.
As with most other computer interfaces, HTML forms will now have the ability to shut elements off. The disabled attribute, according the spec, "allows form providers to make a form control initially insensitive." This, of course, is just techie jargon for "grayed out." An example: Using JavaScript, you should be able to keep the Submit button gray until your users fill in the right form elements. Once they do, the button should magically become active. Again, it's a nice feature for making your pages easier to use.
And there's more, including an interesting <button> tag that lets you make a Submit button out of any piece of HTML. Check out the spec for all the possible future additions to forms, and bug your browser developer to include them. It's good stuff....
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