The Custom Form Controls Pattern
Explore how to transform default HTML form elements into fully styled, accessible custom controls using CSS. Understand techniques for hiding native inputs while preserving functionality and accessibility, syncing interactive states, and maintaining usability. Gain insights into common pitfalls and tradeoffs to build cohesive, user-friendly interfaces.
The Custom Form Controls pattern is about transforming default HTML inputs, selects, checkboxes, radios, and buttons into cohesive, branded UI elements, while retaining accessibility and native behaviors. Native form elements often appear differently across browsers, creating inconsistency and limiting branding options. Custom form controls solve this by allowing designers and developers to fully style inputs, checkboxes, radios, and selects while still preserving their usability and accessibility. This makes interfaces more cohesive and user-friendly. In this pattern, instead of listing every pseudo-element or ARIA attribute up front, we’ll take a ...