HTML Basics

Requesters know that Mechanical Turk can be difficult and, at times, frustrating to use.  I've found that a basic knowledge of HTML can be extremely helpful in designing better HITs.  Of course, there are countless HTML codes you can use, and there are many great websites that can help you.  Below you will find a list of a few basic codes that I've used in my HITs.  Just copy the code, and change the highlighted text to suit your purposes. 


Links to other websites should open a new window to minimize disruption to the Worker:  

<a href="http://mturk101.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mechanical Turk 101</a>

Ask people to provide feedback about something:

<textarea rows="4" cols="50" name="Comments"></textarea>

Use horizontal lines to break text into more manageable sections:

<hr align="center" noshade="" size="5" width="800" />

Allow people to click on an item's text to select the corresponding radio button:

<form>
<p>Enter your question here</p>
<br>
<input id="A" type="radio" value="1" name="question1"><label for="A">Option A</label>
<br>
<input id="B" type="radio" value="2" name="question1"><label for="B">Option B</label>
<br>
<input id="C" type="radio" value="3" name="question1"><label for="C">Option C</label>
<br>
<input id="D" type="radio" value="4" name="question1"><label for="D">Option D</label>
<br>
</form>

Other Useful HTML Tools:

Need to change the size of an image?  Click here to try this proportional scale calculator.

Need to test your HTML code?  Click here to try this code tester.