PDF Accessibility: Online Forms Todd Weissenberger Web Accessibility Coordinator University of Iowa Accessibility Notes

How People Use PDF Forms Visual/desktop Screen reader Keyboard Print/complete Complete online Digital signature Etc?? Note: Print forms and manual signatures present inherent accessibility barriers

5 criteria for accessibility (Adobe) Logical structure and reading order, represented in tag structure Alternate text descriptions for figures, form fields, and links Navigation aids, including bookmarks and/or table of contents derived from structure Security that doesn’t interfere with AT Fonts that allow characters to be extracted to text

Five Steps to (somewhat) Accessible PDF Forms Create Accessible Source Document Add Form Fields Provide Meaningful Tooltips Check Tags and Annotations Fix Content Order

Consider the Source Document Design form framework in Word or other source application Place form instructions before and adjacent to form controls Present related form controls together; use headings for sections Use styles rather than hard formatting for visual presentation Make sure instructions are clear Make sure instructions come before form fields Address form fields in Acrobat

So much depends on… Consistency and predictability Logical order and grouping Form instructions and label positioning Providing examples for specific input formats Date (mm/dd/yyyy) Phone ( ) Structure, style, formatting Use headings and other structural markup to organize content Use sufficient color contrast and font size Add form controls after saving document to PDF

Form sections, instructions, labels Instructions should precede calls to action Instructions should be easy to find, read, and return to Instructions should be concise and clear Groups of related form elements should be organized in sections Required fields should be labeled as such in text Fields that require specific input patterns (e.g., phone number, date) should include examples (e.g., mm/dd/yyyy; )

Student Request Form: Original

MS Word: No Semantics or Styles; Instructions re-ordered

Apply Structure and Headings Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 2 Word Styles Heading 2 Heading 3 Section break, 2- column layout

Define structure, semantics and styles for… Instructions Headings Body Text Other?? Controls and control regions Textfield Multiline textfield Checkbox Radio button set Select menu

Form Control and Text Styles Set line height, tab stop, alignment, font size, spacing and other formatting options for form consistency

MS Word: Layout, Semantics, Styles form-textfield form-textfield-multiline Custom Styles form-radiobutton form-textfield-multiline Continuous section break two-column layout indentations for controls Heading 1 Heading 2 Heading 3 Heading 2 form-checkbox

MS Word Accessibility Checker

MS Word Accessibility Checker: ALT Text

PDF Maker Preferences Settings Use Accessibility and Reflow Tagging Advanced tagging creates unreliable tag mappings Security Ensure that text access for screen readers is enabled Bookmarks Convert Word Headings to bookmarks Convert other styles as necessary

PDF Maker Preferences

Create PDF

Document Properties: Description/Initial View

1. In tools, select “Forms” and then “Create” 2. Select how you want to create the form In this example, form is created from Existing Document 3. Choose the document you want to use In this example, the Current Document is used 4. No new form fields were detected, but now this document is ready to accept new form fields Create PDF Form

Forms Editor Add fields Edit fields Set tab order Group radio buttons Change field properties

Form Text Fields

Add Field

Add Tooltip

Form Fields Added

Check Box

Dropdown (Select) field with Options

Radio Buttons are different Add groups of radio buttons all at once All buttons in a set get the same group name General/tooltip Choice field contains value for screen reader

Insert Radio Buttons in a Group 1 2 3

Group name is shared among all buttons

Radio Button: Tooltip/Choice combo Group name

Adjust Tab Order

Add Tags to Form Fields

Tag Order: Before

Tag order: After

Final Accessibility Check

Allowing Digital Signatures

User Signature Properties

Summary PDF accessibility begins with the source file Forms are only one part of the PDF accessibility challenge Form fields both programmatic and human-readable names Radio buttons travel in groups Tag and tab order are essential for keyboard accessibility Digital signatures could provide an accessible alternative to hand-signed documents

Questions? Todd Weissenberger