Monday, May 1, 2017

website design - What's the best way to make a user read terms and conditions before continuing a form?


What's the best way to make a user read terms and conditions before continuing a form?


Structure of Form:
Label1 [Textbox]

Label2 [Textbox]
Terms and Conditions [Textarea]
Checkbox ["I agree to the terms and conditions."]
Submit Button


The form has a requirement of checking off the checkbox "I agree to terms and conditions" before submitting the form. The goal is for the user to scroll to the bottom of Terms and Conditions text area before allowing them to check off "I agree to terms and conditions".


One option is to disable the checkbox until the user scrolls to the bottom of the Terms and Conditions textarea... but how what is the best way to tell the user they have to scroll in order to activate the checkbox?


Are there better options?



Answer



There is no reason to force a user to read the terms and conditions first. It is not a legal requirement and it doesn't improve the UX.


Don't do it.



Legally they simply have to agree to the terms and conditions, and if they choose not to read them, then that is their problem.


UX wise, what part of the experience are you trying to improve by doing this? Sure, make the terms and conditions more readable, and make them easy to find. But don't force someone to do something that has no benefit for them.




On the off chance that this has been handed down from some manager on high, and you have no say in the matter (stranger things have happened), I would follow the example set by Windows 98 (I never thought I would ever say that!).




  1. Make sure that it is clear to a user that they have to read to the bottom of the terms and conditions. Something like "You need to read to the bottom of these terms and conditions before you can continue".




  2. Make the "I agree" button active only when they have read to the bottom of the terms and conditions.





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