CSS is an excellent way to add color and style to your forms when displayed in a traditional web browser - without compromising the accessibility of the form for those using a screen-reader or otherwise limited browser. However, for more complex forms we can also incorporate JavaScript to add further effects. While JavaScript can be problematic for usability and accessibility, it can also add to the usability of a form for those whose browsers support it - the trick is to ensure that without JavaScript your form is still totally usable.
We won't be looking at how to write JavaScript in this tutorial; instead we will be exploring the inbuilt Dreamweaver behaviors and those downloadable from the Macromedia Exchange. So this tutorial will also quickly cover the installation and use of third party extensions as well as the functionality that is shipped with Dreamweaver MX.
Rachel Andrew is a trained dancer and singer, whose CV lists jobs as diverse as company choreographer for a physical theatre company to chargehand carpenter for “The Mousetrap” at St. Martin’s Theatre in London’s West End. After leaving the theatre when pregnant with her daughter, Rachel started to design sites mainly out of curiosity into how it worked. It didn’t take too long for her to figure out that her skills lay in development as opposed to design and these days she tends to leave the design to designers so she can concentrate on writing code, dismantling computers and installing Linux on anything that stays still long enough.
Rachel has worked in the industry as a webmaster, technical project manager and senior web developer but in September 2001 set up her own company ‘edgeofmyseat.com’, which provides complete web solutions and outsourced development services for design agencies and Internet start-ups who do not have in-house web developers.
As well as managing and doing much of the development on projects for edgofmyseat.com Rachel is a published author and worked as a co-author on the following titles for Glasshaus:
Dynamic Dreamweaver MX ISBN:1904151108
Fundmental Web Design and development Skills: ISBN:1904151175
Dreamweaver MX Design Projects: ISBN:1904151272
Rachel is also a member of the Web Standards Project serving on The Dreamweaver Task Force.
In her spare time Rachel studies for ‘fun’ with the Open University, does family and local history research and spends time with her 5 year old daughter and her other half, Drew McLellan.