What Are Radio Buttons?

Using radio inputs

We already covered the fundamentals of radio buttons above. Let's now look at the other common radio-button-related features and techniques you may need to know about.

Selecting a radio button by default

To make a radio button selected by default, you include checked attribute, as shown in this revised version of the previous example:

<form>
  <fieldset>
    <legend>Please select your preferred contact method (email is the default):</legend>
    <div>
      <input
        type="radio"
        id="contactChoice1"
        name="contact"
        value="email"
        checked />
      <label for="contactChoice1">Email</label>

      <input type="radio" id="contactChoice2" name="contact" value="phone" />
      <label for="contactChoice2">Phone</label>

      <input type="radio" id="contactChoice3" name="contact" value="mail" />
      <label for="contactChoice3">Mail</label>
    </div>
    <div>
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </div>
  </fieldset>
</form>

In this case, the first radio button is now selected by default.

Note: If you put the checked attribute on more than one radio button, later instances will override earlier ones; that is, the last checked radio button will be the one that is selected. This is because only one radio button in a group can ever be selected at once, and the user agent automatically deselects others each time a new one is marked as checked.

Providing a bigger hit area for your radio buttons

In the above examples, you may have noticed that you can select a radio button by clicking on its associated <label> element, as well as on the radio button itself. This is a really useful feature of HTML form labels that makes it easier for users to click the option they want, especially on small-screen devices like smartphones.

Beyond accessibility, this is another good reason to properly set up <label> elements on your forms.