Accessibility - Refactoring HTML: Improving the Design of Existing Web Applications - page 217

the currency field should be ready to accept an ISO currency code such as USD or GBP.
Not all fields fit into this scheme. For instance, there's no standard name for a fax number. That's fine. Most
forms collect some unique and original information. Not everything needs to have a standard name. However,
you should enable the browser to autofill as much as possible.
You'll need to make any changes to field names in at least two places: the form itself and the server-side
program that receives input from the form. If the form is a heavy user of JavaScript, as many forms are, you'll
need to update the scripts as well to use the new names.
Many autofill tools can also recognize standard labels, as well as field names. In many cases, the name and the
label will be the same, perhaps modulo a small case change. However, because the label is user-visible, you'll
often want to customize or translate it, rather than using the standard field names. By contrast, the field name
is invisible and irrelevant to the end-user.
If these names are too much to stomach, most autofill tools will recognize reasonable variations of them. For
instance, you may be able to use PostalCode instead of Ecom_ReceiptTo_Postal_PostalCode . You might even
discover that zip or zip_code works for some users. However, support will vary among autofill tools and even
among users, depending on which other forms they've already filled in. It's best to use the names in Table 6.1 if
at all possible. Even if it's not, stay away from meaningless names such as field4 and q17a .