Work with Forms in Adobe Acrobat

Description

This article provides instructions on how to create and tag accessible form fields in Adobe Express at Idaho State University (ISU).

Guide Navigation

Add Form Fields

Before you begin, make sure your PDF is properly tagged.
  1. Open your PDF in Adobe Express.
  2. Open Tools.
  3. Open Prepare Form.
  4. Clear Automatically detect form fields if you want to place fields manually.
  5. Select the type of form field you want to add. 
  6. Select the location where you want to place the field.
  7. Enter a unique name for the form field.
  8. Repeat these steps for each additional field.

To Copy a Form Field

  1. Hold Ctrl (Windows) or Option (Mac).
  2. Drag the existing field to a new location.
  3. Rename the copied field. 
  4. Adjust the font size and appearance if needed.

You Can Add

  • Text fields.
  • Checkboxes.
  • Radio Buttons.
  • Drop-down lists. 

Add Tooltips to Form Fields

Tooltips provide accessible description that screen readers announce. 
  1. Open Prepare Form.
  2. Open the field properties for a form field.
  3. Enter descriptive text in the Tooltip box.
  4. Repeat for every form field. 

IMPORTANT: You need to add a tooltip to every form field, including checkboxes and radio buttons.

Tag Form Fields Manually

Use the Reading Order tool to tag form field individually.
  1. Open the Reading Order tool.
  2. Select the form field. 
  3. Remove extra elements by holding Ctrl (Windows) or Option (Mac) while selecting them.
  4. Tag the selected item as a Form Field.
  5. Repeat for each form field. 

Tag Form Fields Automatically

You can also tag unmarked form fields automatically.
  1. Open the Tags Panel.
  2. Open the panel options menu.
  3. Select Find.
  4. Select Unmarked Annotations.
  5. Search the document.
  6. Select Tag Element.
  7. Set Type to Form.

Create a Submit Button

  1. Open Prepare Form.
  2. Add a Button field. 
  3. Give the button a meaningful name.
  4. Open the button properties. 
  5. Open the Actions tab.
  6. Set Select Action to Submit a Form.
  7. Choose the appropriate submission format.
  8. Enter the email address using the format mailto:email@email.com.
  9. Open the Appearance tab to adjust the buttons appearance.
  10. Open the Options tab if you want to use an icon.
  11. Add the button icon if needed.
  12. Tag the button as a Form element.

Organize Form Tags

Each form field should have its own tag in the Tags panel.
If multiple field names appear within the same <p> tag:
  1. Select one field name.
  2. Select Create Tag from Selection.
  3. Move the new tag under the correct parent <p> tag.
  4. Repeat until each form field has its own properly placed tag.

Accessibility Checklist

Before sharing your PDF, verify that:
  • Every form field has a unique name.
  • Every form field includes a descriptive tooltip.
  • Every form field is tagged as a Form element.
  • Submit buttons are properly tagged.
  • Form tags are organized correctly in the Tags panel.
  • The document remains fully tagged after all form edits.
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