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Adobe Acrobat XI Accessibility
To test the form, select the Preview button at the top of the document window. Preview lets
you view a form the way a form recipient would, and gives the author a chance to verify the
appearance and behavior of the form. If a form is being previewed, click the Edit Layout button
to return to Forms Editing Mode.
Next, set the accessible name for the field. This is how the field will be announced by assistive
technology. Other properties such as required field notation can also be set here.
Form Field Properties
How a form field behaves is determined by settings in the Properties dialog box for that
individual field. Properties can be set that apply formatting, determine how the form field
information relates to other form fields, impose limitations on what the user can enter in the
form field, trigger custom scripts, and so forth.
To modify a field's properties, right-click it (or select and then press the Application key).
A variety of properties can be set for an Acrobat form field, depending on the form field type.
The properties for each type of form field are selected on a series of tabs. When a property is
changed, it is applied as soon as another property is selected or when Enter is pressed.
All form field types have a General tab, Appearance tab, and an Actions tab. Other tabs appear
only in specific types of form fields. The Options tab appears for most form field types, but the
options available are unique to each type of form field.
You can leave the Properties dialog box open if you want to change multiple fields at once.
Setting Tooltips for Form Fields
The tooltip field on the General tab of the field properties dialog is the most important item for
form fields. The content of the tooltip will be announced by screen readers as the accessible
name of the field. This property provides the user with information and instructions about the
field. Tooltips should be short and descriptive and should not include the type of field or text
such as "Click to enter". For example, "First Name" would be a good tooltip for a first name
field and "Sign-up Date (2 digit month / 2 digit day / 4 digit year) would be a good name for a
"Sign up date" field that had a required field format. The City field for a group of shipping field
would need to include the group name as well as the on-screen label, "Ship to City" or "Shipping
Address City". (Refer to "Figure 9. Adding a Tooltip to a Form Field" on page 87).
Accessible PDF Forms
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In the Field Name box, type the name of the field. Select a name that is
relevant and descriptive to make organizing and collecting the data easier.
This name is not shown to users of the form.
Note:
If the "Keep Tool Selected" option is checked in the forms toolbar, the Field
Name box doesn't appear after adding a field. Each time the page is clicked,
a new field is added to the form. To exit this mode, press the Esc key or click
the Select Object Tool button. To modify the properties of a field, double-click
it.
Figure 55. Field Name Box
Adobe® Acrobat® XI Pro Accessibility Guide: Best Practices for PDF Accessibility
86
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