[Athen] Creating Accessible PDF Forms in Word

[S A. Marositz]

Hi Robert

Everybody on here is right, you will not be able to create a form in Acrobat using a screen reader. There are a few PDF form controls however, you can create in word using Acrobat’s recognize form fields feature. They are textboxes, checkboxes  and radio buttons. Of course the end result is not entirely an accessible document but if you want to give it a try to see how it works,  here is a good tutorial.
https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/designing-forms-auto-field-detection-adobe-acrobat

Here is the relevant section.
The auto field detection feature looks for specific objects to convert to form fields. For example, underlines, text boxes, and clearly delineated tables are converted to text fields. By default, text fields are created with the font size set to Auto, which means text in the field will shrink to fit the field as data is entered. The default font is Helvetica. Stroked square-, circular-, or diamond-shaped objects indicate check boxes. Circular objects or numbered buttons adjacent to specific text labels indicate radio buttons, and the word signature is interpreted as a digital signature field.

I hope this helps
Stephen Alexander Marositz JD, CPACC
Assistive Technology Specialist, Pasadena City College
Phone: (626) 585-7242

From: athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman12.u.washington.edu> On Behalf Of Karlen Communications
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2018 2:56 PM
To: Access Technology Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Re: [Athen] Creating Accessible PDF Forms in Word

You would use ABBYY FineReader if you are starting the form from a scanned image.

Bevi is correct about current versions of InDesign as a tool for accessible forms, however, desktop publishing authoring tools aren't accessible either. You are working with frames, threading frames so that content flows and AT doesn't support the content in the frames or the placement and sizing of frames.

Cheers, Karen

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 17, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Robert Spangler <rspangler1 at udayton.edu<mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu>> wrote:
OK so you're saying that one would have to do this directly using Adobe Acrobat Pro or Abbyy FineReader?
I am assuming that this process would not be accessible since it involves editing a PDF.


On Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 5:09 PM Karlen Communications <info at karlencommunications.com<mailto:info at karlencommunications.com>> wrote:
As far as I know, you have to add the form controls in the PDF document. Neither the old ActiveX or the newer Content Controls are converted as form controls in a PDF document.

Cheers, Karen

Sent from my iPad

On Sep 17, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Robert Spangler <rspangler1 at udayton.edu<mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu>> wrote:
Hello:

I am able to create forms with fields and other controls by using the developer tab, which I had to enable in Word options.  I am able to create these forms then use the restrict editing feature to make them fillable only.  When I go to save as PDF, however, the fields are not retained.  Is it possible to create fillable PDF forms in Word and, if so, could someone please explain?  I understand that Adobe Pro could also be used to do this but if we can do it from Word this would be better.  Thanks!

--
Robert Spangler
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--
Robert Spangler
Disability Services Technical Support Specialist
rspangler1 at udayton.edu<mailto:rspangler1 at udayton.edu>
Office of Learning Resources (OLR) - RL 023
Ryan C. Harris Learning & Teaching Center (LTC)
University of Dayton  | 300 College Park  |  Dayton, Ohio 45469-1302
Phone: 937-229-2066
Fax: 937-229-3270
Ohio Relay: 711 (available for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing)
Web Site: http://go.udayton.edu/learning<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fgo.udayton.edu%2flearning&c=E,1,2irOR7hcCF_hxq4wkxCWyLiPECRJ5JeSyjnHOBe2BUCQn2x546vZJTbgmujK0gmNI8rj5xwJXn0OVzYRHlajbH_tbGKhwIeFkFYrg9tmMov868g,&typo=1>
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