How to align checkboxes and their labels consistently cross-browsers

Uniform checkbox sizing

Ensure your checkboxes maintain consistent dimensions across browsers. This combats default variability that often trigger headaches like in IE, by explicitly defining width and height:

.checkbox {
  width: 16px;   /* Or any size that you fancy */
  height: 16px;  /* Match the height for a square box. Simple geometry, right? */
  vertical-align: middle; /* Because nobody likes to feel left out */
}
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Fine-tune alignment with positioning

Sometimes even a small shift can perfect the vertical alignment. Use the power of relative positioning to your advantage and push your checkboxes around with the top property:

.checkbox {
  position: relative;
  top: -1px;   /* Rise and shine, little checkbox */
}
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Proper text alignment

Consistency is key, even for label text. Keep their spacing in check using padding-left and text-indent:

.checkbox-label {
  padding-left: 24px;  /* Enough space for the checkbox to hang out */
  text-indent: -8px;   /* Keeping the text in line. Literally */
}
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Address overflow issues

To handle surplus space particularly in IE, apply overflow: hidden; to the parent element:

.checkbox-label {
  overflow: hidden; /* Hide and seek champion, 2021 */
}
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Start clean with CSS resets

Use CSS resets like Eric Meyer's for a clean slate and uniform styling:

@import url('https://yoursite.com/cssreset.css');
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Responsive touch

Maintain responsive alignment by proportionally adjusting the CSS values with the parent font size:

.checkbox {
  width: 1em;
  height: 1em;
}
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Deploy conditional styling

Opt for conditional comments for browser-specific styling solutions instead of inline hacks:

<!--[if IE]>
  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="ie-style.css" />
<![endif]-->
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Control with span

Wrap the labels in a <span> for enhanced control and consistency:

<label class="checkbox-label">
  <input type="checkbox" class="checkbox" id="option1" />
  <span>Your Option</span>
</label>
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Prevent text from wrapping

Apply white-space: nowrap; to ensure label text doesn't wrap unpredictably:

.checkbox-label span {
  white-space: nowrap;  /* Because text also needs boundaries */
}
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Consider long label texts

For lengthy labels, set them to display: block and specify enough padding:

.checkbox-label span {
  display: block;   
  padding: 2px 0;  /* Because padding brings comfort */
}
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Ensure accessibility

Ensure your label for attribute matches the checkbox id to maintain accessibility:

<label for="option1">Your Option</label>
<input type="checkbox" id="option1" class="checkbox" />
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Test effectiveness

Continually test your solution on various projects to confirm its effectiveness.

Keep up with browser changes

Regular testing and updates will ensure your styling solution remains robust in the face of browser updates.

In-depth solutions

Flexbox fallback

If flexbox is not supported, use display: inline-block and vertical-align: middle:

.checkbox-label {
  display: inline-block;
  vertical-align: middle;
}
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Minimize browser differences

Normalize.css is an excellent resource to minimize browser differences:

@import url('https://necolas.github.io/normalize.css/latest/normalize.css');
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Progressive enhancement

Use advanced selectors and pseudo-classes for enhanced styling:

.checkbox:checked + span {
  font-weight: bold;  /* Checked options hit the gym */
}
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Compound complexity

Stringently address nested structures where checkboxes maintain different alignments:

.parent-element .checkbox-label {
  /* Specific container may demand specific fixes */
}
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