<strong>Use checkboxes and radio buttons only to change settings, not as action buttons</strong> that make something happen. Also, the changed settings should not take effect until the user clicks the command button (labeled "OK" for example, or "Proceed to XXX" where "XXX" is the next step in a process).
<ul>
<li style="margin-top: 0.5ex;">If the user clicks the <em>Back</em> button, any changes made to checkboxes or radio buttons on the page should be discarded and the original settings reinstated. The same guideline obviously holds if the user clicks a <em>Cancel</em> button (though navigational Web pages <a href="http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000416.html" title="Alertbox April 2000: Reset and Cancel Buttons" class="old">don't need a cancel option</a> because the <em>Back</em> button serves the same purpose).
</li><li style="margin-top: 0.5ex;">If the user first clicks <em>Back</em> and then <em>Forward</em>, then it's most appropriate to interpret this sequence as an Undo-Redo pair, meaning that the appearance of the controls should show the user's changes as if the user had never clicked <em>Back</em>. These changes should still not take effect on the backend until the user clicks "OK" or an equivalent command.</li></ul>
