Checking a Word Document
Instructions
Section 7.1: The PDF Form Pipeline
The following steps are the main PDF Form Pipeline or workflow used for creating accessible PDF forms.
The PDF Form Pipeline Steps:
Create the Form in Microsoft Word
Export to Untagged PDF
Add Form Fields in Acrobat Pro
Set and Verify Form Field Properties
Check the Form Field Tab Order
Add Tags to the Document
Fine Tune the Reading Order and Tab Order
Check Accessibility
If you start with a tagged PDF document, you should delete the tags and then complete Steps 3 through 8.
Section 7.2: Starting in Microsoft Word
If you are creating a document, spreadsheet, or presentation, you should always begin in a software like Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to create your content the way you want. My example here is a job application for a local hotel “Coastal Comforts”. Before turning the document into a PDF, use the accessibility checker to find any mistakes or errors, then do a few manual checks for the same issues.
When you think your document is nearing completion, follow these rules to make sure your project is ready for Acrobat.
Ensure form instructions are clear.
Create visible labels for all form fields.
Ensure labels are meaningful and clear.
Place labels visually adjacent to their corresponding elements.
Include meaningful group labels where appropriate.
Indicate which form fields are required and if there are any field constraints, such as a specific format of entering the data. (This can also be done in Acrobat).
Provide help and hints where appropriate. (This can also be done in Acrobat).
One last thing to mention is that if you miss a mistake and find it again while you are developing the PDF, you will have to fix it in Microsoft Word and lose all of your progress. Adobe Acrobat does have the Edit PDF Tool however it is not recommended to depend on it in all cases. Microsoft Word was designed for fixing formatting issues, changing fonts, and designing your document to its best version. Meanwhile, Acrobat has a lot of limitations, so if you find a mistake, just fix the file in Word and reexport it to Acrobat.
Section 7.3: Saving as a Tagged PDF
There are two primary choices when converting a document to a PDF. You can have the document converted to a tagged PDF or leave it untagged. When you optimize a source document for accessibility and convert it to tagged PDF, you are using a type of automated tagging. Because you've already applied accessibility features in the source document, they will carry over during conversion. This type of automatic tagging can be helpful and make your life easier. However, for a form, it is better to tag manually. This is because automatic tagging is rarely 100% accurate and when some tags are applied, they can be very hard to remove if they are out of order. This series is going to show you how to tag everything manually, which may take longer but is usually much more accurate than automatic tagging.
To save your Word Document as a Tagged PDF,
Click on the File Tab and click Save as Adobe PDF.
In the Save Adobe PDF File As box, go to the Options Box at the bottom.
In the Acrobat PDFMaker, uncheck Enable Accessibility and Reflow with tagged Adobe PDF and Convert Word Headings to Bookmarks.