Checkboxes customized using CSS
Summary
Principle
Checkboxes are form elements that are used to select one or more options out of a group of options.
Checkboxes are “customized using CSS” when they are built using the standard HTML code for radio buttons as found in the specification <input type="checkbox" /> but the standard radio buttons are visually hidden and replaced with CSS images, icon fonts, or specific styles.
There are several ways of achieving this. The example below shows how to simulate the behavior of standard default HTML checkboxes using CSS pseudo-elements and background images, while ensuring that they remain accessible.
Core HTML base
<fieldset>
<legend>Question</legend>
<ul>
<li>
<input type="checkbox" id="answer-1" name="answer-1" />
<label for="answer-1">Answer 1</label>
</li>
<li>
<input type="checkbox" id="answer-2" name="answer-2" />
<label for="answer-2">Answer 2</label>
</li>
[…]
</ul>
</fieldset>
CSS base
label {
position: relative;
padding: 0 0 0 2rem;
}
input[type=checkbox] {
position: absolute;
opacity: 0;
}
input[type=checkbox] + label::before,
input[type=checkbox] + label::after {
content: '';
position: absolute;
display: inline-block;
}
input[type=checkbox] + label::before {
left: 0.5rem;
top: 0.15rem;
width: 0.9rem;
height: 0.9rem;
border: 0.05rem solid black;
background: white;
}
input[type=checkbox]:checked + label::after {
left: 0.55rem;
top: 0.18rem;
height: 0.8rem;
border-left: 0.8rem solid black;
}
input[type=checkbox]:focus + label::before {
outline: 0.1rem solid;
outline-offset: 0.1rem;
}
Demo
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