[WEB4LIB] drop-down menus

[Thomas Dowling]

The quick answer to your question is No.  Text in HTML cannot
simultaneously be in an <OPTION> element (drop-down menu item) and in an
<A> element (hypertext link).

The longer answer is, "It depends on what your definition of Link is."  It
has become common for page authors to use JavaScript OnChange actions to
try to force a link-like behavior in which simply clicking on a menu item
takes you to a new page.  There aren't many things I find more frustrating
and wrong than this: it undermines users' understanding of how <SELECT>
and <OPTION> are intended to work; it prevents them from changing their
mind or correcting a mis-click; and it tempts authors to leave out Submit
buttons, making their pages totally inaccessible to people with JavaScript
turned off.

Thomas Dowling
OhioLINK - Ohio Library and Information Network
tdowling at ohiolink.edu


----- Original Message -----
From: Judith Sterenberg <judith at usis.no>
To: Multiple recipients of list <web4lib at webjunction.org>
Sent: Monday, March 22, 1999 6:16 AM
Subject: [WEB4LIB] drop-down menus


> Is it possible to make a drop-down menu that has also a link in the
first
> line? When you open a drop-down menu, the first line is often not a
link,
> but it is the name of the menu. I would like to know how I can make a
link
> at that place. I know it is possible because I have seen it several
times.
> I am using MS FrontPage 3.0
> Many thanks!
> Judith Sterenberg
>