Tagged form fields and Field descriptions – Failed

Tagged form fields – Failed and Field descriptions – Failed are the two rules in the Forms category of Adobe Acrobat Pro's Accessibility Checker. The first fails when a fillable field isn't part of the document's structure (its tags). The second fails when a field has no text description, called a tooltip. If either fails, screen reader users may not find a field at all, or may hear "edit text" with no idea what to type.

What this means

The two rules check two separate jobs:

• Tagged form fields: Adobe's help says that in an accessible PDF, every form field is tagged and part of the document structure. Each field belongs in a Form tag, placed next to its printed label in the reading order.
• Field descriptions: Adobe's help says every form field needs a text description, its tooltip. Screen readers announce the tooltip as the field's name, so it should match the printed label and include any format hints, such as "Date of birth (MM/DD/YYYY)".

Two harder cases are worth knowing about:

• Dynamic XFA forms, an older Adobe format made with tools such as Adobe LiveCycle Designer, aren't supported by many PDF readers or assistive technologies, and PDF/UA, the ISO standard for accessible PDFs, doesn't allow them. They need to be rebuilt as a standard PDF form (an AcroForm) before they can be made accessible.
• Fields drawn over a scanned page, where the printed labels are only pictures until the page has been run through OCR (text recognition).

Passing both rules doesn't mean a form is usable. A person still needs to check that labels are clear, that required fields are marked in words rather than only with color or a symbol, and that instructions come before the fields they apply to.

Why it matters

Forms are how people apply for permits, benefits, jobs and programs. Untagged or unlabeled fields can make that impossible without help. Screen reader users need the label read with the field. Voice control users need it too: they say a field's name to move to it. Keyboard users need fields in a logical order. This affects WCAG 2.1 success criteria 1.3.1 Info and Relationships, 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.

How to fix it in Acrobat Pro

Fix it in the source file

Word and most word processors can't export fillable PDF fields, so fields are usually added afterward in a PDF editor such as Acrobat. You can still make the PDF form much easier to fix:

• Put a clear printed label next to every field, including any format the answer needs.
• Mark required fields in words, such as "(required)".
• Put instructions before the fields they apply to.
• Don't use rows of underscores or dots to draw blanks. Screen readers read every character.
• If the form is an XFA form, rebuild it as a standard PDF form rather than trying to patch it.

After the fields are added in Acrobat, tag them and add tooltips as above before you publish.

Fix it automatically with Includoc

Includoc tags every field automatically, in reading order, and sets the tab order of every page with fields to follow the structure.

Field descriptions are assisted. We write each field's tooltip from the nearby printed label, and you confirm them on the review screen. We can't fix dynamic XFA forms: convert the form to a standard PDF form first, then check it again. For applications and other high-stakes forms, the human-verified tier tests the form with a screen reader.

Standards

Related errors

• Widget annotations in Form tag: PAC's version of the tagging check.
• Tab order – Failed: keyboard order for fields and links.

For a complete walkthrough, read Forms in PDFs, or check a PDF free to find fields without tags or tooltips.