There are different ways to improve the usability of a form, but validation is arguably one of the most important facets that we should consider. How many times have you visited a site and filled in your details only to be told that there is a problem? Sounds familiar, right?
Validating a form is key to maintaining the consistency of information; the form will process the information that has been entered in order to ensure that it is correct. Take an example of the following scenarios:
If an e-mail address is entered, let's make sure it has a valid format. The e-mail address should include a full stop and contain an
@symbol somewhere in the address.Calling someone? What country are they in? Let's make sure that the phone number follows the right format, if we've already set the form to show a specific format of the fields for a chosen country.
I think you get the idea. Now, this might sound as if we're stating the obvious here (and no, I've not lost...