Adobe 22002484 Using Manual page 270

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USING ACROBAT 9 STANDARD
Accessibility, tags, and reflow
About tools for creating accessible PDF forms
Adobe offers several tools for the creation of accessible PDF forms:
Use one of these applications to open untagged or tagged PDF
Acrobat Pro, Acrobat Pro Extended, Acrobat Standard
forms (except PDF forms that are created from LiveCycle Designer) to add fillable form fields, such as text boxes, check
boxes, and buttons. Then use the application's other tools to make the form accessible. Add descriptions to form fields,
tag untagged forms, set the set tab order, manipulate tags, and perform the other PDF accessibility tasks.
(Available in Acrobat Pro and Acrobat Pro Extended) Use this product to design and build new
LiveCycle Designer
forms or to import untagged PDF forms and make their form fields fillable and accessible. You can deploy forms in
tagged PDF, XML, and other formats from LiveCycle Designer. Once you create or edit an Acrobat form in LiveCycle
Designer, it becomes a LiveCycle Designer file. It is no longer a PDF that you can edit or manipulate in Acrobat. Both
Acrobat and Reader can open and read PDF forms that you create from LiveCycle Designer. These PDF forms,
however, don't include permissions to modify the file. Therefore, use LiveCycle Designer only for PDFs that are
intended to contain only form-based information. Don't use it to add form fields to a document that combines pages
of narrative with an occasional page that has form fields. In this case, use Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended to add
the form fields. Then complete the accessibility tasks for the rest of the document content.
Most authoring applications that you can use to design forms don't retain their fillable form
Authoring applications
fields when you convert the files to PDF. Use the forms tools in Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended to add fillable
form fields. Moreover, if you tag the form during conversion to PDF, the authoring application can generate
inappropriate tags for the text labels of the form fields. In a complex form, for example, the text labels for all the fields
can run together into a single line. Screen readers can't interpret these fields as individual labels. Such reading order
problems can require time-consuming work in Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended to split the labels apart. In this
case, producing an untagged PDF form from the authoring application is sometimes the better course. You can then
use the Forms tools in Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended to add fillable form fields before you tag the entire
document. Some forms are straightforward enough that you can produce a tagged PDF from the authoring
application. Then perform light touchup in Acrobat Pro or Acrobat Pro Extended after you add the fillable form fields.
Workflow for creating accessible PDF forms
Using Acrobat, you can open untagged and tagged PDF forms, add fillable form fields, add field descriptions and
alternate text, set the tab order, and tag the forms (if they aren't already tagged). You can also edit the tags of any tagged
PDF form by using the TouchUp Reading Order tool or the tag tree.
1. Design the form for accessibility.
Forms tend to have relatively complex layouts compared to documents that have a simple, single-column structure.
The success that an application has in analyzing and tagging a form depends largely on the original formatting and
layout of a document, and the types of fields that it uses.
When you design a form, include headings, instructions, and fields in which users are to enter data. At a minimum,
give each field a label. Also add special instructions for fields that need them. Use graphics tools to draw lines and
boxes—don't use characters, such as underscores and vertical bars, because these text characters can confuse screen
readers.
Adding descriptions to form fields enables screen readers to identify the fields to users. Users hear the description read
aloud when they tab to the field. Write descriptions that are terse but complete. For example, the description "First
name" is appropriate for a first-name field. Don't use instructions (such as "Enter first name") as a description.
Last updated 9/30/2011