Creating Accessible PDF Forms

Handouts Media

Presented at 8:00am in Standley I (Adobe Lab) on Thursday, November 21, 2019.

Speaker(s)

• Rob Haverty, Senior Program Manager, Accessibility, Adobe

Session Details

• Length of Session: 2-hr
• Format: Lab
• Expertise Level: Expert
• Type of session: General Conference

Summary

Making PDF Forms accessible can be a challenging task. Choosing whether to create form fields in a tagged PDF or create them prior to tagging only adds to the confusion. Each has its advantages and challenges. In this session, we will learn how to create accessible PDF Forms using Acrobat Pro DC and explore the differences between the approaches.

Abstract

This class is for those who have some experience in working in Acrobat Pro DC to fix inaccessible PDF documents. The focus is on creating the form fields not creating a well-tagged PDF document. Key elements will include: • Choosing whether to tag before or after adding the form fields. • How the Hierarchy of Tasks applies to forms. • The difference between auto-generating form fields vs. manually creating them. • How to use the Prepare Form tool. • Understanding how to correctly tag the added form fields. This is a hands-on, lab style course so come prepared to do some work. There will be little to no lecture, just demos and practice. Participants will receive a USB drive at the beginning of the session with the practice materials. The goal for this training is to build on the accessible PDF knowledge participants already have and provide the additional skills necessary to create an accessible PDF form.

Keypoints

1. How to choose the best approach to creating an accessible PDF Form
2. How to create Form field tags
3. Creating an accessible form for use in multiple Adobe applications such as, Acrobat and Adobe Sign

Disability Areas

All Areas

Topic Areas

Accessible Course Design, Accessible Educational Materials, Alternate Format, Uncategorized

Speaker Bio(s)

Rob Haverty

Rob Haverty is a Senior Product Manager on the Accessibility team at Adobe primarily focused on Document Cloud. With more than 20 years of accessibility experience Rob as has been involved in many facets of accessibility including product development, technical evangelism, and policy and standards development. Rob has presented at conferences world-wide and has been involved in international accessibility projects such as the UNESCO Inclusive Classroom Project. Prior to coming to Adobe Rob was engaged in accessibility work at Microsoft. Rob has been focused extensively on PDF accessibility during his years at Adobe with the goal of making it easier to create accessible PDF documents frequently providing training on using Acrobat Pro DC to create accessible PDFs.

Handout(s)

• Accessible PDF Forms - Adding Form Fields to a Tagged PDF (pptx)
• CEU_AccreditationForm-Organization(2) - final (pdf)
• CEU_AccreditationForm-Organization(2) - no form fields - tagged (pdf)
• Accessible PDF Forms - Adding Form Fields to an Untagged PDF (pptx)
• CEU_AccreditationForm-Organization - Final (pdf)
• CEU_AccreditationForm-Organization - Untagged - delete (pdf)
• CEU_AccreditationForm-Organization - Untagged (pdf)
• EX1b - Form Simple - Final (pdf)
• EX1b - Form Simple - Print No Tags delete (pdf)
• EX1b - Form Simple - Print No Tags (pdf)
• Creating Accessible PDF Forms
• EX1a - Form - FWS Permit - Tagged no form fields
• EX1b - Form - CEU Accreditation - Tagged no Form Fields
• EX2a - Form - Pledge Template - Untagged no Form Fields
• EX2b - Form - FWS Permit Form - Untagged no Form Fields
• Form - CEU Accreditation - Fixed