Until CSS use became prevalent, little could be done to alter the way forms and form elements looked on
the Web. Standardizing text field sizes between PC and Macintosh was a problem because the different
operating systems interpreted character width differently; moreover, the field sizes may vary from browser
to browser.
NOTE NOTE
NOTE NOTE
512
Adding Advanced Design Features Part III
CSS gives the form designer much more flexibility, both to integrate and isolate the form and form elements.
Text fields, for example, can take on a shade of a site??™s background color or adopt the same typeface
used on the page. Similarly, you can draw attention to the form itself by giving it a contrasting background;
this enables you to format lengthy drop-down lists for easy reading.
If you??™re not familiar with CSS in general or, specifically, how it is applied in Dreamweaver, see
Chapter 7.
Encompassing the form
The