diff --git a/public/index.js b/public/index.js
index 3c6b1d273decd3b218832fbbcda4e23d3a6e3f3f..de36e558a5d00ca532a801acc63c7b94e4cacac4 100644
--- a/public/index.js
+++ b/public/index.js
@@ -20,7 +20,22 @@ function handleTextRadioClick() {
         let value = document.getElementById("inputTextCharacters").value;
         setCharacterLength(value);
     }
-    isFormValid();
+
+    // show or hide validation messages
+    if (inputObj.textChoice === 'manual' && inputObj.text === '') {
+        //document.getElementById('textarea-validation').style.display = 'block';
+    } else {
+        document.getElementById('textarea-validation').style.display = 'none';
+    }
+
+    if (inputObj.textChoice === 'calculated' &&
+        (inputObj.numberOfCharacters === '' || inputObj.numberOfCharacters === 0)) {
+
+        //document.getElementById('textCharacters-validation').style.display = 'block';
+    } else {
+        document.getElementById('textCharacters-validation').style.display = 'none';
+    }
+
     toggleElement('character-calculation-wrapper');
     toggleElement('manual-character-input');
 }
@@ -66,7 +81,11 @@ function handleCharacterInputChange() {
 
 // function setCharacterLength: sets number of characters to property numberOfCharacters on inputObj
 function setCharacterLength(characters) {
-    inputObj.numberOfCharacters = parseInt(characters);
+    if (characters === '') {
+        inputObj.numberOfCharacters = 0;
+    } else {
+        inputObj.numberOfCharacters = parseInt(characters);
+    }
 }
 
 
@@ -83,7 +102,7 @@ function isFormValid() {
     }
 
     if (inputObj.textChoice === 'calculated' &&
-        (inputObj.textLenumberOfCharactersngth === '' || inputObj.numberOfCharacters === 0)) {
+        (inputObj.numberOfCharacters === '' || inputObj.numberOfCharacters === 0)) {
 
         invalidFields++;
         document.getElementById('textCharacters-validation').style.display = 'block';