Exploiting form semantics and validation checks to improve e-form layout Costas Vassilakis*, George Lepouras, Stathis Rouvas and Panagiotis Georgiadis Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, E-Gov lab, University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 15784, Athens, Greece Fax: +30-210-7275214 E-mail: costas@e-gov.gr E-mail: gl@e-gov.gr E-mail: rouvas@e-gov.gr E-mail: p.georgiadis@e-gov.gr *Corresponding author Abstract: On their route to the electronic era, organisations release on the web more and more complex form-based services, which require users to enter numerous data items interrelated by business rules. In such a context, it is crucial to provide optimal form layouts, in order to present the service users with interfaces that facilitate their work. This paper presents an integrated environment, which exploits data item interrelations manifested by the business rules (or validation checks), to optimise the layout of the web forms comprising a complex service. The approach is validated through its application on a tax return form e-service. Keywords: electronic services; form layout; form semantics; integrated environment; optimisation; usability; validation checks. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Vassilakis, C., Lepouras, G., Rouvas, S. and Georgiadis, P. (2005) ‘Exploiting form semantics and validation checks to improve e-form layout’, Int. J. Web Engineering and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.81–96. Biographical notes: Dr Costas Vassilakis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Technology of the University of Peloponnese. He holds a BSc in informatics (1990) from the Department of Informatics, University of Athens and a PhD from the same department (1995). Dr Vassilakis has participated in several European and national projects and has published more than 30 scientific papers in international journals and conferences. He has been a consultant for the General Secretariat for Information Systems of the Ministry of Finance, Greece. Dr George Lepouras is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Technology of the University of Peloponnese. He holds a BSc in mathematics (1991) from the University of Athens, an Msc in information technology (1992) from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland and a PhD in human–computer interaction (2000) from the University of Athens. Dr Lepouras has participated in several European and national RTD projects and has published more than 30 scientific papers in international journals and conferences. He has also been a Consultant to the General Secretariat for Information Systems of the Greek Ministry of Finance. Mr Stathis Rouvas was born in Athens in 1968. He holds a degree in civil engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece and is now 111 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1011 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2011 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 711 8 Int. J. Web Engineering and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2005 81 Copyright © 2005 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. IJWET-4-Vassilakis 5/19/05 2:42 PM Page 81