Re: [Usability] colon ':' in text field label

[Luca Bruno <lethalman88 gmail com>]

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On Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:28:47 +0100
Calum Benson <Calum Benson Sun COM> wrote:

 
> My recollection is that we kept colons around because, at the time, it  
> was recommended for accessibility reasons-- e.g. see checklist item 10  
> at <http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/archive/oldsoftware.html>
> 
> I don't know if that's still true, and I'm sure we'll revisit it when  
> we revisit the HIG.  Either way, the most common advice regarding  
> colons nowadays seems to be "decide whether to use them or not, and  
> once you've started, don't change your mind".
> 

The colon has been introduced to connect the label with the near field, but I think everyone could understand that the label belongs to the field on its right. It's not understood when the layout of the application is incoherent.
As you said, if must decide at the beginning and everything must be coherent.

Do you really care of colons when using an app? What about my screenshot?
Also take for example an email client, with the usual "From:" and "To:" labels (sometimes they're in an entrybox/combobox like in claws).
It's starting become more natural to see "From Calum" rather than "From: Calum" to me.

> So for that reason alone, I would favour following the HIG's guidance,  

Yes of course, my application is not GNOME.

Thanks for the reply.

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