Why?

Accessible forms require easy-to-understand instructions and clearly labeled fields. It can be very frustrating for people who use screen readers to fill out forms that aren’t easy to complete.

Tab order is essential for screen readers

Some screen reader users navigate through a form using the keyboard’s Tab key to jump from field to field. A screen reader reads out loud the label for each part of the form, like saying “Name.” It’s important that the labels and parts of the form are read in a way that makes sense.

Step 1. Follow tips for creating surveys

• Guidelines for accessible surveys and forms from UCOP, for content creators.
• Creating Accessible Forms from WebAIM, for developers.

Step 2. Test with a built-in checker

Qualtrics and REDCap are the two survey platforms are available at UCSF, available from the UCSF MyAccess page. 

• For Qualtrics surveys, use the Check Survey Accessibility Tool.
• Note: not all survey platforms have built-in checkers for accessibility. Move to the next step for manual testing if yours does not.

Step 3. Test manually

Conduct basic manual testing, including keyboard-only testing.

Step 4. Fix the issues