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Checkboxes also have a fundamental dependency on the label to assist them with their affordance: a label for a checkbox should almost always be in the form of a yes/no question: “are you hungry? [ ]”

The “checked” box is an affirmative, empty is a negative. A checkbox without a label is useless because it has no context.

But I constantly see checkboxs without the question label. Think back to all those control panels and settings windows youve seen where the label for a checkbox is something like “animations [ ]”. Does that mean they are on by default? Does checking the checkbox switch them on or off?

Now compare with this “animations? [ ]” checking the checkbox has now become an answer to a question




> But I constantly see checkboxs without the question label.

Properly so.

Imagine every real-world appliance power toggle was labelled "Power?".


Real world appliances dont use checkboxes to power toggle


Checkbox is nearest in equivalence.




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