Tagged form fields failed: form fields without tag or description

Messages you may see

• Tagged form fields - Failed (Acrobat Pro, Accessibility Checker)
• Field descriptions - Failed (Acrobat Pro, Accessibility Checker)
• PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.18.4-1: A Widget annotation is an Artifact or is nested within … tag (standard type = …) instead of Form
• PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.18.4-2: The Form element omits a Role attribute and doesn't have only one child identifying the widget annotation
• PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.18.1-3: A form field neither has TU key nor its Widget annotations have alternative descriptions (in the form of an Alt entry in the enclosing structure element)
• PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.15-1: Dynamic XFA forms is present
• PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.10.2.3-1: Widget annotation contains neither label nor Contents entry

What the rule requires

In PDF, the visible part of a form field is a widget annotation. ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1) regulates it in several clauses; the Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 lists them under checkpoint 28 (Annotations), and XFA under checkpoint 25 (XFA).

PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2, clause 8.10) is similar: each widget is enclosed by a Form element unless it is an artifact, a Form element contains at most one widget, XFA forms must not be present, and a widget without a label needs a /Contents entry (8.10.2.3).

Not machine-checkable: whether the tooltip describes the field well, whether required fields and formats are explained, and whether error messages are accessible. These need a manual check. The order in which the Tab key reaches the fields is covered in Tab order failed.

Why it matters

A screen reader announces a form field by its name, its role (text field, check box, radio button) and its state or value. If the field has no tooltip, many screen readers announce only the role, such as "edit text", and the person cannot tell whether to enter a name, a date or an account number. If the field is not tagged, it may be announced out of context or in an order unrelated to the visible labels.

Adobe links Tagged form fields to WCAG success criteria 1.3.1 and 4.1.2, and Field descriptions additionally to 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions. The W3C techniques PDF10 and PDF12 describe labels and name, role and value for PDF form fields.

Common causes

• Fields were added in Acrobat to a PDF that was already tagged, or to an untagged PDF, and the document was not tagged again.
• Fields have only an internal name (/T) such as "Text1", and the tooltip field is empty.
• A Word document with content controls or legacy form fields was exported. Microsoft documents that Word exports these as paragraphs (P), so the PDF has no fillable fields, and fields added later are untagged.
• Several widgets of one field, such as a group of radio buttons, ended up in one Form element.
• The form is a dynamic XFA form created with older Adobe form software.

Example

A text field for the last name. In the failing version the widget is not tagged, the internal name is "Text1" and there is no tooltip:

41 0 obj
<< /Type /Annot /Subtype /Widget /FT /Tx
   /T (Text1)
   /Rect [150 600 400 620] /F 4 /P 5 0 R >>
endobj

50 0 obj
<< /Type /StructElem /S /Form /P 20 0 R /Pg 5 0 R
   /K << /Type /OBJR /Obj 41 0 R /Pg 5 0 R >> >>
endobj

41 0 obj
<< /Type /Annot /Subtype /Widget /FT /Tx
   /T (lastname) /TU (Last name)
   /Rect [150 600 400 620] /F 4 /P 5 0 R
   /StructParent 9 >>
endobj

Here field and widget are one object, which is common for single fields. For a field with several widgets, /TU sits in the parent field dictionary and each widget gets its own Form element.

How to fix it

Microsoft Word

Word cannot create fillable PDF form fields. Microsoft documents that content controls and legacy controls are exported as P tags, that is as plain text.

1. Design the form in Word with clear visible labels and leave space for the answers.
2. Export with File > Save As > PDF > Options and Document structure tags for accessibility selected.
3. Add the fields in Acrobat Pro and tag and describe them as shown below, or build the form in InDesign.
4. Alternatively offer the Word document itself as the form to fill in.

Adobe InDesign

1. Draw a frame where the field belongs, open Window > Interactive > Buttons and Forms, choose the field type under Type and give the field a name.
2. Enter the tooltip in the Description field under PDF Options. This is the text that screen readers announce.
3. Set the order of the fields: Adobe describes dragging the field frames into the Articles panel (Window > Articles) and choosing the option to use that order for the tagged PDF from the panel menu; alternatively use Object > Interactive > Set Tab Order.
4. Export with File > Export > Adobe PDF (Interactive) with Create Tagged PDF switched on (and Use Structure for Tab Order if you used Set Tab Order).
5. Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro and check the form. Adobe recommends Acrobat for validation and calculations.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Tag the fields

• Choose All tools > Prepare for accessibility > Automatically tag PDF. Adobe names this command as the fix for the rule Tagged form fields.
• For single fields, the Reading Order tool offers Form Field to tag a selection as a form field.
• Check in the Tags panel that each field has its own Form tag next to its visible label.

Add field descriptions

1. Select one of the Form tools and right-click (Windows) or Ctrl-click (macOS) the field.
2. Choose Properties and open the General tab.
3. Enter a description in Tooltip, for example "Last name" or "Date of birth (DD.MM.YYYY)".
4. Repeat for every field, then run the Accessibility Checker again, look at Tagged form fields and Field descriptions, and check the file here as well.

XFA forms

Adobe states that Prepare for accessibility does not run on dynamic forms (XFA documents). Rebuild such forms as ordinary PDF forms (AcroForm) from a tagged PDF of the layout.

Questions

Is the field name (/T) enough?

No. /T is the internal name used for form data, often "Text1". PDF/UA-1 asks for /TU, the name meant for people, or an Alt entry on the structure element.

Does a visible label next to the field count?

For PDF/UA-1, the machine check looks for /TU or Alt, not for the visible label. PDF/UA-2 accepts a label in the structure (8.10.2.3) as an alternative to /Contents.

Can I use Acrobat's automatic field detection?

Yes, but check every result: names, tooltips and order of detected fields need a review by a person.

Sources

1. ISO 14289-1:2014 – Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Checked on 7 November 2026.
2. ISO 14289-2:2024 – Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 2: Use of ISO 32000-2 (PDF/UA-2) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 13 March 2024. Checked on 7 November 2026.
3. The Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 – PDF Association. Checked on 7 November 2026.
4. Create and verify PDF accessibility (Acrobat Pro) – Adobe (helpx.adobe.com). Checked on 7 November 2026.
5. Reading Order tool for PDFs (Acrobat Pro) – Adobe (helpx.adobe.com), 26 February 2026. Checked on 7 November 2026.
6. PDF10: Providing labels for interactive form controls in PDF documents – World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative. Checked on 7 November 2026.
7. PDF12: Providing name, role, value information for form fields in PDF documents – World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Web Accessibility Initiative. Checked on 7 November 2026.
8. Word PDF Accessibility – Microsoft Learn, 12 May 2026. Checked on 8 November 2026.
9. Create fillable forms (InDesign) – Adobe (helpx.adobe.com), 2 June 2026. Checked on 7 November 2026.
10. Interactive PDF options (InDesign) – Adobe (helpx.adobe.com), 2 June 2026. Checked on 7 November 2026.