Verification Checkpoints Related to Forms (Desktop and Advanced Editor)

Tagging forms in a document will result in some new and unique outcomes when a user runs the verification check on their remediated document. In the following sections, users can familiarize themselves with these potential results and handle them appropriately.

Tooltips (The "TU Attribute")

Assistive technologies have a mode that makes it possible for users to complete electronic forms.  When in this mode (it may be called Forms mode, Focus mode, etc., depending on the particular assistive technology), the only information that is read to the user is the tooltip associated with the form Annotations.  When running a verification, CommonLook will display a failure for any and all form Annotations that do not have tooltips assigned in their tag properties (the error will state that the Annotation does not define the TU Attribute).  If the tooltip has been assigned to the Annotation then it becomes a “User Verification” checkpoint, to make sure that the tooltip is sufficiently descriptive for the question being asked on the form. 

Failures

When running a verification, as shown below, the “Results” panel will list the Form Annotations that do not have tooltips.

Follow these steps to fix the error(s):

1. Double click on the error in the Results panel. The Fix Wizard will open and the text that is in the Form tag with the Annotation will be used as the tooltip.
2. Edit the tooltip as needed or decide to use the text as it appears in the Fix Wizard.
3. If there are multiple failures due to many form Annotations not having tooltips, users have the option to check the box in the lower-left corner to “Apply fix to all similar issues.”  When that checkbox is selected, two additional options become available.
   1. Use default values – As mentioned, the “default” is to use the text that is in the Form tag with the Annotation.  This is usually the recommended option.
   2. Use current values – The “current value” is the text that is entered in the Fix Wizard for the specific Annotation selected.  Choosing this option will give all form Annotations the same tooltip.  Unless the same question is being asked multiple times, this is probably not the option to use!
      
4. Click Finish.

Note:  If there are form fields in the document that do not have text with them, then there will not be any text available to automatically use for the tooltip.  In this case, remediators will need to provide an adequate description of the question being asked so that the end-user can accurately provide the necessary information. 

Note: Tooltips for specifically formatted form fields present another unique challenge.  If, for example, the user is asked to enter a date in a form, and the properties of that date field require the answer to be entered in a two-digit month, two-digit, day, four-digit year format, then include a description of this formatting requirement in the tooltip.     

Another common Failure will appear if your document has no tabbing order set. You can use the Fix Wizard to solve this issue, and you can find more information about this result in our article titled "Tab Order."

Radio Button Failures

It's worth mentioning that Radio Buttons, if not handled properly, can result in a handful of accessibility violations. For a full rundown on how to avoid those pitfalls, please explore our article titled, "Forms with Radio Buttons (CL PDF)."

User Verification Results

When tooltips have been assigned to form Annotations, CommonLook PDF will not prompt a failure for that checkpoint.  The tooltip will, however, become a “user verification” checkpoint.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First, we want the user to certify that the tooltip is accurate for the question being asked.  Second, because CommonLook will use the text in the Form tag as the tooltip, the text may need to be edited.  Consider the example mentioned in the previous section, when the properties of a “Date” form field may be set to enter the date in a specific format.  If the text in the Form tag is simply “Date” then the formatting information is not conveyed.  Edit the tooltip as needed, making sure to provide all needed information. 

Didn't find what you're looking for? Navigate to our "Forms" section for more related articles that may help!