PRDV402: Introduction to JavaScript II

The following example shows a slightly more thorough version of the example we've seen throughout the article, with some additional styling, and with better semantics established through use of specialized elements. The HTML looks like this:

<form>
  <fieldset>
    <legend>Please select your preferred contact method:</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>

The CSS involved in this example is a bit more significant:

html {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}

div:first-of-type {
  display: flex;
  align-items: flex-start;
  margin-bottom: 5px;
}

label {
  margin-right: 15px;
  line-height: 32px;
}

input {
  appearance: none;

  border-radius: 50%;
  width: 16px;
  height: 16px;

  border: 2px solid #999;
  transition: 0.2s all linear;
  margin-right: 5px;

  position: relative;
  top: 4px;
}

input:checked {
  border: 6px solid black;
}

button,
legend {
  color: white;
  background-color: black;
  padding: 5px 10px;
  border-radius: 0;
  border: 0;
  font-size: 14px;
}

button:hover,
button:focus {
  color: #999;
}

button:active {
  background-color: white;
  color: black;
  outline: 1px solid black;
}

Most notable here is the use of the appearance property (with prefixes needed to support some browsers). By default, radio buttons (and checkboxes) are styled with the operating system's native styles for those controls. By specifying appearance: none, you can remove the native styling altogether, and create your own styles for them. Here we've used a border along with border-radius and a transition to create a nice animating radio selection. Notice also how the :checked pseudo-class is used to specify the styles for the radio button's appearance when selected.

Note: If you wish to use the appearance property, you should test it very carefully. Although it is supported in most modern browsers, its implementation varies widely. In older browsers, even the keyword none does not have the same effect across different browsers, and some do not support it at all. The differences are smaller in the newest browsers.