Form elements – User interface guide

Forms ask users to submit data.

Form elements include:

  • buttons
  • input boxes
  • radio buttons
  • checkboxes
  • errors

Buttons

Buttons are simple rectangles containing text. They have a thin, teal border.

There are 2 types of button:

  • primary – background is teal, text is white
  • secondary – background is white, text is teal

On hover and focus, the colours swap:

  • primary – background is white, text is teal
  • secondary – background is teal, text is white
Important: This can be confusing on pages which have both types of button. We plan to fix this.

Examples of buttons

These are links styled as buttons:

Primary button

Secondary button

Input boxes

Input boxes have a thin, grey border with rounded corners.

They are used to input text.

Example of an input box

example of a text box used to enter free text information on a form

Radio buttons

Radio buttons are circles with a black border. The label text is in bold.

They have different states:

  • unselected – empty
  • selected – with a blue circle inside

On hover and focus, a teal outline surrounds the black border.

Examples of radio buttons

example of a radio button with one option selected

Checkboxes

Checkboxes are squares with a black border. The label text is in bold.

They have different states:

  • unselected – empty
  • selected – with a black 'tick' inside

On hover and focus, a teal outline surrounds the black border.

Examples of checkboxes

example of a checkbox with one box unselected and one selected

Errors

Errors tell users that they have not completed a required field.

They appear when the user tries to submit a form page without completing all required fields.

Required fields can include:

  • input boxes
  • radio buttons
  • checkboxes

An error includes:

  • a red border – to the left of the field
  • red text – below the field label
Important: Errors are not consistent across the website. And on the Notify form, text sizing is inconsistent. We plan to fix this.

Example of an error

example of an error message for an input box, with red text that tells the user there is an error

 

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