First option of dropdown not an option; force to use other options [duplicate]

Question

<select name="name">
    <option>Select an option.</option><br/>
    <option>A</option><br/>
    <option>B</option><br/>
    <option>C</option><br/>
</select>

HTML5 has required="required", and this is the kind of effect I want with the dropdown above. I don't want the user to select "Select an option", only "A", "B", or "C". I know I could set a default value of A and just remove the "Select an option" option entirely, but I don't want users to click haphazardly without reading the options available.

Can this be done with HTML and/or JS?

Answer 1

edit: this code is only to force users to choose a valid option, instead of the one by default... validation for submit/change/etc should be added

You should just disable the first option and setting it as selected by default:

<select name="name">
  <option disabled="disabled" selected="selected">Select an option.</option>
  <option>A</option>
  <option>B</option>
  <option>C</option>
</select>

That should do the trick, demo here http://jsfiddle.net/pixshatterer/Q27HX/