Faculty and Staff » Digital Accessibility » Forms Accessibility
Forms are useful for gathering a variety of information. Web-based forms are often more accessible than Word or PDF forms, but they aren’t always practical. Use the format that works best for each situation.
Before creating any form, make sure to understand its purpose, as the purpose guides the information included on the form. Like any document, a well-structured form has appropriate headings and adequate white space. A simple form may have only one heading (Heading 1), but forms often include directions. A Heading 2 would be used for the directions section and the form completion section.
Before tackling a form, please be sure to visit the following pages for help with structuring the document:
Microsoft Word's form creation features make it easy to build interactive forms, which go beyond just opening a document to type answers. A true form in Word includes form fields. Document editing can be restricted to allow only the form fields to be filled out. When restricting editing to form fields only, no other content on the document can be changed.
While the content on the form stays protected, the visual layout may change. If maintaining the visual appearance is important, consider creating a PDF form.
To work with form fields, the Developer tab must be enabled. To enable the Developer tab:
Once the Developer tab is enabled, the form controls are available. There are two types of controls available: Legacy Forms and ActiveX Controls. Legacy Form Controls are not as robust as ActiveX Controls, but they are easier to use and more accessible. Stick to Legacy Form controls when creating a form to be distributed in Word.
Start by formatting the form content in Word, leaving spaces to add controls. Identify all the fields and field types needed before adding the form fields. Set tab stops to help format text placement, rather than add multiple spaces or tab repeatedly.
Choose the Legacy Forms Control based on the type needed. Legacy Forms have the following options:
Add form fields in the correct tab order. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the tab order afterward, so they must be added in the required sequence.
To make the fields accessible, keep the following in mind:
Before distributing a Word form, protect the file so users can only edit the form fields. To restrict editing:
A Stop Protection button appears at the bottom of the Restrict Editing pane. Select the button to edit the form. Just be sure to restrict editing after making changes.
Adobe PDF is an excellent format for forms. It provides better control over form fields, keeps the content looking neat on the page even if the text extends beyond the space, and allows for digital signing of documents. Creators often avoid PDFs because remediation can be a challenging task. A well-designed form can be easier to remediate in PDF format if the right steps are followed, making the form more accessible for users, which is the main goal.
Here is an overview of the process to create a PDF form:
If a Word version of a PDF form exists, consider starting with a new Word document. Older documents have often been upgraded from earlier Word versions and often contain hidden code that can’t be removed. The hidden code can cause problems in Acrobat. When pasting into Word on Windows, right-click and select Keep Text Only, represented by the clipboard icon with an A, to remove hidden code.
Word is easier to work in than that PDF. Therefore, starting a PDF form in Word is the preferred method. Make the Word document accessible; but since the form will be in PDF, it’s okay to break some rules:
All other accessibility rules apply. Ensure the file has a title entered and the document is structured correctly. Pay close attention to the selected font, line spacing, and white space. A cramped form can be difficult to complete.
Once the form is formatted appropriately in Word, it’s time to convert it to a PDF. Here’s how:
Begin with an untagged PDF in Acrobat. A well-designed form is easier to manually tag than to fix autogenerated tags.
The general steps for adding form fields are provided below. The How to Remediate PDF Forms video will demonstrate the steps and provide guidance for using different form field types in Acrobat.
Acrobat attempts to identify form fields and their types, recognizing underscores as fields. Ensure all fields are created, verify their accuracy, remove unnecessary or incorrect fields, and manually add any missing ones.
Check the form fields tab order and make any adjustments. One way to check is to preview the form while in Forms Mode and tab through the fields.
When setting up multi-line responses, use only one form field, such as for a comments box that may span two or more lines. There is a checkbox to enable in the form field, allowing multi-line responses.
Enabling multi-line will allow users to either use Enter to start a new line or have the text wrap in the box.
Each form field type has properties. Each type offers various options for customization of the field. All form fields require the following:
Keep in mind that screen readers such as NVDA have a forms mode. When in forms mode, the visible text is not available. The screen reader reads the tooltip information, so the tooltip is how the user understands what to enter in the field.
There are multiple ways to open the Properties. Here is one method:
After the form fields are added, the PDF needs to be tagged. Although there is an auto-tag function, it can sometimes be more trouble to use than manual tagging. The How to Tag a PDF Form video will demonstrate the steps below to manually tag a PDF form.
After tagging all form fields, add paragraph tags and organize the form field tags. Start by adding a paragraph tag for each form field:
Paragraph tags will be located at the bottom of the Accessibility tags list, also known as the tags tree. Move the empty paragraph tag above the form tag. Selecting the form tag will highlight the field in the document pane.
Next, structure the paragraph tag, which is formatted as <P> in the Accessibility tags tree.
Remember that tags are how the screen reader reads the content. Although the screen reader can read all form fields, it needs access to all text on the PDF. So, tag any remaining untagged text and images if essential.
The process to tag other text is like tagging the visible form label:
After adding all tags, always verify that the tags and reading order are correct.
What if only a PDF version of the form exists, or the form fields are already added? There are two options:
DocuSign forms start in either Word or PDF. The format used depends on how the form is used.
Either way, once the form is in DocuSign, add form fields as is done for a Word or PDF form. When adding form fields, include a tooltip that is read aloud by the screen reader and appears when the cursor is hovered over the form field.
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