Required attribute on multiple checkboxes with the same name?
Sorry, now I've read what you expected better, so I'm updating the answer.
Based on the HTML5 Specs from W3C, nothing is wrong. I created this JSFiddle test and it's behaving correctly based on the specs (for those browsers based on the specs, like Chrome 11 and Firefox 4):
<form>
<input type="checkbox" name="q" id="a-0" required autofocus>
<label for="a-0">a-1</label>
<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="q" id="a-1" required>
<label for="a-1">a-2</label>
<br>
<input type="checkbox" name="q" id="a-2" required>
<label for="a-2">a-3</label>
<br>
<input type="submit">
</form>I agree that it isn't very usable (in fact many people have complained about it in the W3C's mailing lists).
But browsers are just following the standard's recommendations, which is correct. The standard is a little misleading, but we can't do anything about it in practice. You can always use JavaScript for form validation, though, like some great jQuery validation plugin.
Another approach would be choosing a polyfill that can make (almost) all browsers interpret form validation rightly.
To provide another approach similar to the answer by @IvanCollantes.
It works by additionally filtering the required checkboxes by name. I also simplified the code a bit and checks for a default checked checkbox.
jQuery(function($) {
var requiredCheckboxes = $(':checkbox[required]');
requiredCheckboxes.on('change', function(e) {
var checkboxGroup = requiredCheckboxes.filter('[name="' + $(this).attr('name') + '"]');
var isChecked = checkboxGroup.is(':checked');
checkboxGroup.prop('required', !isChecked);
});
requiredCheckboxes.trigger('change');
});<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.11.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form target="_blank">
<p>
At least one checkbox from each group is required...
</p>
<fieldset>
<legend>Checkboxes Group test</legend>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="test[]" value="1" checked="checked" required="required">test-1
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="test[]" value="2" required="required">test-2
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="test[]" value="3" required="required">test-3
</label>
</fieldset>
<br>
<fieldset>
<legend>Checkboxes Group test2</legend>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="test2[]" value="1" required="required">test2-1
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="test2[]" value="2" required="required">test2-2
</label>
<label>
<input type="checkbox" name="test2[]" value="3" required="required">test2-3
</label>
</fieldset>
<hr>
<button type="submit" value="submit">Submit</button>
</form>You can make it with jQuery a less lines:
$(function(){
var requiredCheckboxes = $(':checkbox[required]');
requiredCheckboxes.change(function(){
if(requiredCheckboxes.is(':checked')) {
requiredCheckboxes.removeAttr('required');
}
else {
requiredCheckboxes.attr('required', 'required');
}
});
});
With $(':checkbox[required]') you select all checkboxes with the attribute required, then, with the .change method applied to this group of checkboxes, you can execute the function you want when any item of this group changes. In this case, if any of the checkboxes is checked, I remove the required attribute for all of the checkboxes that are part of the selected group.
I hope this helps.
Farewell.