UI cheat sheet: radio buttons, checkboxes, and other selectors

Radio buttons and checkboxes are very similar, except for a few key differences. The primary difference is that with radio buttons you can only select one item, while with checkboxes you can select any number.

• Standard style (radio buttons/checkboxes)
• Quiz button style (radio buttons/checkboxes)
• Basic image style (radio buttons/checkboxes)
• Image in a grid style (single/multi-select)
• Multi-level checkboxes
• Forced selection
• Button style (single/multi-select)
• Toggle (single select)

Checkboxes and radio buttons have to change their state/appearance so that users know they have been selected. We need to add these little visual cues to nudge the user in the right direction using patterns that they already know and understand.

Types: 

• Active
• Inactive
• Hover
• Focussed
• Highlighted
• Pressed
• Selected
• Fail Feedback

1. Make sure that the case on every selector label is the same (sentence case, title case, etc.)
2. Make sure that all items either end in a period or not.
3. Try to make sure that all the items are either a sentence, phrase, or word.
4. Above all, be consistent.

• When you only want the user to select one item
• If you have fewer than six options
• You want to force a selection of one
• If the question only has two options that are yes/no
• If you want your users to click ‘save’ to implement the option

If your option’s labels are short, consider using a multiple-choice toggle.

• When you want the user to be able to select multiple options or none at all
• Single item(Like agreeing to T&C)

1. Does your selector meet the WCAG AAA colour contrast standards? Some designers use the AA standards instead, but I’m far too paranoid for that. My current favourite contrast checker is 

1. Are your options/items bigger than 44px for touch screens? (Differing reports use 36px.)
2. Is there more than 8px between each option/item?
3. Is the label/question always visible?
4. Do the relevant fields have helpful feedback text? (E.g. “Please complete this question”)