CHAPTER 3
Controls
Checkboxes 3-19
Figure 3-18 Each checkbox can be on or off
You can have one checkbox or as many as you need. Checkboxes are indepen-
dent of one another, even when they offer related options. Any number of
checkboxes can be on or off at the same time. It’s a good idea to group sets
of checkboxes that are related, and to separate the groups from other groups of
checkboxes and radio buttons. Each group may have a heading to identify it.
Labeling a checkbox unambiguously can be difficult. The label should imply
two clearly opposite states. For example, the Sound preferences slip
(Figure 3-18) shows a checkbox labeled “Action sound effects” that controls
whether or not sound effects are played for actions. If the checkbox is selected,
the action sound effects are played. The clearly opposite state, when the
checkbox is not selected, is to not play action sound effects.
Checkboxes are usually capitalized like sentences. However, in some contexts
it makes more sense to capitalize them like book titles. Checkbox labels should
be all lowercase (except for proper nouns) if the checkboxes are part of a
group and each label completes a sentence begun by the label of the group.
If you can’t think of a label for a checkbox that clearly implies its opposite
state, you might be better off using radio buttons. With radio buttons, you
can use two labels, thereby clarifying the states. It’s sometimes tempting to
use a checkbox because one item takes up less space than two. However, the
resulting item may be ambiguous and thus difficult to understand.
Sometimes using one checkbox instead of two radio buttons can make users
focus more carefully on a choice between two states. One state is clearly
labeled, but a user must think to figure out the unlabeled state. While thinking,
C
heckbox off
C
heckbox on