HTML Form Elements

The <input> Element

One of the most used form element is the <input> element.
The <input> element can be displayed in several ways, depending on the type attribute.
All the different values of the type attribute are covered in the next chapter: HTML Input Types.

The <label> Element

The <label> element defines a label for several form elements.
The <label> element is useful for screen-reader users, because the screen-reader will read out loud the label when the user focus on the input 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.
You can also define the size of the text area by using CSS:

The <button> Element

The <button> element defines a clickable button:
Note: Always specify the type attribute for the button element. Different browsers may use different default types for the button element.

The <feildset> 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.

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.

The <output> Element

The <output> element represents the result of a calculation (like one performed by a script).