A Better Multi-Select Widget: Open Source DHTML

In a recent usability study, we observed that the intranet user base was unfamiliar with the convention of control-click for selecting multiple options in an HTML menulist widget.

To address this issue, we used checkboxes and DHTML to eliminates the need to  control-click to select multiple items. In addition to creating an affordance multiple selection, this system also provides better system status information.  

An example is shown below in which the user has already selected two options from the first two collections and is working on the third: The design saves clicks and screen real esate by making the checkbox containers collapsible.



The code is available as open source using the business friendly MPL license. More information, a live demo, and the source.
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Posted at 16:33