How do I make my Docusign form accessible?

Docusign lets you send electronic forms and collect digital signatures. Docusign documents can be accessible, but they need to be set up correctly. There are two ways to do this.

Option 1: Start with a Google Doc. 

Setting up your document  

  1. Build an accessible Google Doc. Make sure you have headings, alt text, meaningful link text, and enough color contrast. Learn more about building accessible Google Docs. 
    • Be sure to add enough space for your form fields. You might need more than you think! 
    • Avoid tables. Unfortunately, these cannot be made accessible in Docusign.
    • Add standard list formatting for radio buttons and checkboxes. You’ll add functioning radio buttons and checkboxes in Docusign.
    • If a question is required, add “(Required)” or an asterisk (*) next to the question text.

    • As a best practice, add your contact information to your form. This gives users a way to reach out if they have questions.

  1. Use Grackle Docs to check your Google Doc’s accessibility Grackle Docs will help you find and fix any outstanding accessibility issues. Learn more about getting started with Grackle Docs.
  2. Export your Google Doc as a PDF using Grackle Docs.
    1. Select ‘Export to PDF’.
    2. In the Progress Monitor panel, select ‘Start’. Grackle will take a few moments to convert your file.
    3. After the export is complete, ‘Download’ the file.

You will now have a read-only PDF that has accessibility tags. However, it is not fully accessible yet, because the file does not yet have interactive form fields. 

Importing your document to Docusign

  1. Import your PDF into Docusign.
  2. Add form fields to your document. Learn more about adding form fields to your Docusign document.
  3. Toggle all required form fields as ‘Required’ while you are editing field properties.
  4. Add tooltips for each question. Tooltips tell screen reader users that a form field is asking for. Learn more about basic field properties and editing field properties in Docusign.
  5. Add radio button values to each radio button.

Tip: Consider creating a template of your form if you are planning to send it again in the future. Learn more about creating templates in Docusign.

Radio buttons

Must do:

  • Add the question text to the Group Tooltip. This is what the screen reader software uses to tell blind users what the question is. Note: The Group tooltip is repeated for every possible answer choice so be as brief as possible.
  • Add the answers to the Radio Button Values. Otherwise, blind users won’t know what the possible answers are – they’ll just be told there’s a radio button and if it’s checked or unchecked.
  • If the question is required, be sure to mark it as required in the settings.

Checkboxes

Important: When you create checkboxes, only drag over the first checkbox from the sidebar. Use the + (plus) sign to add the additional checkboxes for the question. This keeps all of the checkboxes in the same Group.

Must do:

  • Add the question text to the Group Tooltip. Otherwise, screen readers don’t read the question. Again, be brief because the tooltip is repeated for every answer choice.
  • If the question is required, indicate the minimum number of selections in the Validation setting.

Interestingly, you do not need to add checkbox labels. The screen reader automatically reads the text answers. If you add Checkbox Labels in the settings, they will override the visual text and the screen reader will read those labels instead.

Optional:

Unlike for radio buttons, the screen reader does not announce the number of answer choices or where the user is in the list for checkbox questions. For an improved experience, you can add the answers to the checkbox labels along with “1 of 6”, “2 of 6,” etc. so blind and low vision users know where they are in the list.

Option 2: Start with a remediated PDF form. 

Note: Fillable PDF forms are much more difficult to make accessible than read-only documents. We strongly urge you to have fillable forms professionally remediated to make sure they are fully accessible. Learn more about accessibility vendors.

Setting up your document. 

  1. Build your form as a PDF.
    • Be sure to add enough space for your form fields. You might need more than you think!
    • Avoid tables. Unfortunately, these cannot be made accessible in Docusign.
    • Add standard list formatting for radio buttons and checkboxes. You’ll add functioning radio buttons and checkboxes in Docusign.
    • If a question is required, add “(Required)” or an asterisk (*) next to the question text.
    • As a best practice, add your contact information to your form. This gives users a way to reach out if they have questions.
  2. Send your PDF to a professional remediation service to be made accessible. Learn more about accessibility vendors.

Importing your document to Docusign. 

  1. Upload your PDF to Docusign.
  2. Complete the first intake page and select ‘Next’.
  3. In the ‘Convert PDF Form Fields’ pop up, select ‘Assign to’, then select a recipient.
  4. Select ‘Confirm’.

You will not need to re-add any form fields. However, if your form has a digital signature field, consider adding it in Docusign instead. Docusign has better security than a standard PDF signature.

Pop up for converting PDF form fields with arrows pointing at assign to and select recipient.

Additional resources