Apple 2 manual Button Size, Capitalization, Picker Icons, Dismissing a Slip, Take-Action Button

A P P E N D I X

Avoiding Common Mistakes

Button Size

Make every text button 13 pixels high and center the button’s name vertically. Make the button just wide enough that with the button’s name horizontally centered there are three or four pixels between the name and the button’s left and right borders. See pages 3-3 and 3-7.

Capitalization

Capitalize the following items like sentences: checkboxes, field labels, and

picker items. Capitalize the following items like book titles: view titles, text button names, and radio buttons. In some contexts it makes sense to capitalize differently, but your should be consistent within an application. See pages 2-5, 3-4, 3-18, 3-19, 4-3, 4-20, and 6-2.

Picker Icons

Think twice before including icons in pickers. They’re hard to design and have limited benefit. See page 5-12.

Dismissing a Slip

If dismissing a slip does not cause an action to take place (other than accepting changes made to data in the slip), use a Close box for putting away the slip. In this context the Close box means “close” or “put away.” Use a take-action button and a Close box if users have a choice when dismissing the slip of initiating an action or canceling. In this context the Close box means “cancel.” See pages 2-16, 2-23, and 2-33.

Take-Action Button

Name a slip’s take-action button with a specific verb such as Print, Fax, or File. Only use vaguely affirmative names such as OK and Yes where you want to force users to scan other parts of the slip to verify what action the button initiates. See pages 3-4 and 3-5.

A-3