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Adobe Acrobat - How To Create Accessible Adobe® PDF Files Booklet

Working with Adobe PDF Forms
This section describes how to create form fields in the Adobe PDF file. Each field will be readable in the correct order and will include meaningful information about the field that can be presented to users by screen readers.

Generally, the first step in creating an accessible Adobe PDF form is to create a tagged Adobe PDF file from the original application file, or to convert a pre-existing PDF file using the MakeAccessible plug-in in Acrobat 5.0, as described earlier in this guide. However, many forms have graphically complex layouts that include small sections of text inside groups of tables, nested lists of instructions, and other arbitrarily formatted text and figures. Using the MakeAccessible plug-in on these kinds of documents may not always provide optimum results.

Following are guidelines that will enable you to create tagged Adobe PDF forms using the Tags palette and the forms tool in Acrobat 5.0. This will enable you to create electronic Adobe PDF forms that include live, more accessible form fields that can be filled in using a computer keyboard.

To create tagged Adobe PDF forms:

  1. Open the Adobe PDF form in Acrobat 5.0.
  2. Choose Window > Tags to display the Tags palette. (For more information on the Tags palette, see "Using the Tags Palette".)
  3. Drag the Tags palette into the navigation pane where the other palettes are located and select it.
  4. Right-click on No Tags Available in the Tags palette and choose Create Tags Root.
  5. Select the column select tool ( ) from the toolbar.
  6. Drag the pointer over the text you want to add to the structure tree in the Tags palette.
  7. Once the text is selected, make sure the Tags Root is selected in the Tags palette. Right-click on the Tags Root and select Create Child Element from Selection.
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until you've added all of the required text to the structure tree in the Tags Palette. Note that you can drag to rearrange elements in the structure tree if needed.

You can now use the instructions below to add electronic form fields.

To add electronic form fields:

  1. If you haven't done so already, make the document into a tagged Adobe PDF file as described above.
  2. Open the tagged Adobe PDF file in Acrobat 5.0.
  3. Choose Window > Tags to display the Tags palette. (For more information on the Tags palette, see "Using the Tags Palette".)
  4. Drag the Tags palette into the navigation pane where the other palettes are located and select it.
  5. Select the form tool ( ) from the toolbar.
  6. Drag the cross-hair pointer to create a field of the required size where you want it on the form.
  7. In the Field Properties dialog box, enter a name in the Name text box.
  8. Enter a description of the field in the Short Description text box. The screen reader uses this information to describe the field to vision-impaired users.
  9. Fill in any other options you want and click OK.
  10. Choose Find Unmarked Comments from the palette menu in the Tags palette.
  11. Select Search Current Page for Unmarked Content and click Find Next.
    Acrobat highlights the field you just created with the form tool and describes the type.
  12. For Tag Title, enter a title. This information will not be read by the screen reader, but helps document authors identify fields within the structure.
  13. For Tag Type, type Form.
  14. In the Tags palette, select the element under which you want to place the field.
  15. Click Create Tag.
  16. Repeat steps 6 through 15 for as many fields as you need, then close the dialog box when you're done.
  17. Save and close the file.

Congratulations, you've created a tagged Adobe PDF form that retains both document content and structure.

Before you publish the file, be sure to take advantage of the accessibility tools available in Acrobat 5.0. To do so, follow the instructions provided in "Using the Accessibility Checker". If needed, use the Tags palette as described in "Using the Tags Palette". When you're done, test the file with a screen reader as described in "Testing Your Adobe PDF Files for Accessibility".

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