p vs. ol or ul for form styling

Question

Typically I style forms with the unordered list tag e.g.

    

        

            Name         


        

Answer 1

I tend to use ordered lists

    

        Name
        
    
    

        Name
        
    

My semantic reasoning for using ordered lists is that a good deal of forms in print are actually numbered and are therefore an ordered list of form inputs.

Semantically, I think a definition list holds water as well, and it does have the added benefit of supplying a wrapper for every label/input pairing as well as each individual label and input which can give you a lot of design control (if you can live with the slight heavy-handedness of wrapping a DL around each label/input pair)

    

        
Name
        

    
    

        
Name
        

    

If ordered/unordered/definition lists just aren't your thing, then I'd go with divs. Their only implied semantics are "a division" so they are fine for the job.

I have a hard time justifying the use of paragraph (p) elements to wrap label/input pairs as the implied semantics of the p element just don't apply in my opinion. (also, it's nice to keep the p element available for use inside the form for explanatory text if needed)