At present, the Text Highlighter question type in QuestionPro is designed so that whenever a respondent highlights text, the accompanying comment box is mandatory. This cannot be changed to optional within the platform’s current settings.
Workaround:
If you want respondents to highlight text without being forced to comment, you can:
1. Disable the Comments option in the Text Highlighter question.
2. Add a separate open-ended text question immediately after to collect comments optionally.
3. Clearly instruct respondents that providing comments in the follow-up question is optional.