Forms and Surveys

Making online surveys accessible is not always as simple as using the correct application. The way a survey is designed is just as important as where it is presented. Readers could have disabilities that may make it hard for them to access or complete it. These tips can help you create surveys that make it easier for everyone to participate in. And all respondents will appreciate a survey that’s easy to understand and easy to navigate.

Guidelines for Survey and Form Design

While specific apps are approved for accessibility compliance, the way you set up your form can still affect the overall level of accessibility. Below are some guidelines to keep in mind when creating your forms and surveys in order to keep the final output accessible for all users.

Introduction

Clearly state what your form or survey is about. If creating a survey, say how many questions there are, or use a progress indicator. Allow people to save and return to a survey, especially if it’s long.

For registration forms, avoid creating multipage forms, especially in Cognito. The repeated navigational links may cause some accessibility issues.

Every field in a form has a corresponding label. Make sure you specify the text for each field label on your form. It should be a unique identifier that indicates the purpose of that field.

Language

Use clear and simple language. Keep sentences short and avoid jargon.

• Make section categories to organize content.
• Use bulleted lists to break up text.
• Spell out acronyms the first time they're used, e.g., “purchase order (PO).”

Rankings

When asking readers to rank items in a survey, use words rather than numbers as the scale. Too often, people need to repeatedly refer to the legend. It gets confusing for everyone, especially screen reader users.

• • Good example:
    • Question: Rate your coffee
    • Answer: hot, tepid, cold
  • Bad example:
    • Question: Rate your coffee
    • Answer: 1, 2, 3 (1=hot, 2=tepid, 3=cold)

Buttons and Boxes

Decide how many response options people can select. If only one, use radio buttons. If more than one, use checkboxes.

Make sure that radio buttons are right next to the label.

Negative Answers

Avoid posing questions in the negative so that the reader has to answer “yes” to confirm a negative. It’s confusing.

• • Good example: Do you support motherhood and apple pie?
  • Bad example: Are you opposed to freedom of speech?

Multiple Choices

For questions with only a few multiple choice answers, a horizontal layout is probably fine.

For questions with many possible answers, a vertical layout is better.

Question. Which dog breed do you like best?

• Akita
• Beagle
• Chihuahua
• Dalmatian
• Poodle
• Rottweiler
• Shiba Inu

Tables

Grids or tables are difficult for screen reader users to navigate. Complex tables with many rows and columns of questions and answers are difficult for anyone.

Rather than formatting questions in tables, separate out the questions. Have readers answer each question individually.

• Good example:
  • Question: Do you like cake? Answer: Yes, No
  • Question: Is your house blue? Answer: Yes, No

• Bad example:
  • Do you like cake?
  • Do you eat salt?
  • Are you tall?
  • Can you read?
  • Is your house blue?
  • Do you drive?
  • Do you swim?
  • Do you speak German?
  • Etc.

Keyboard Controls

Make sure readers can use the tab key to move between questions and between answers, as with any accessible form. Not everyone can use a mouse.

Images

If using an image as part of the question or answer, provide a text equivalent (alt attribute, transcript, etc.) so screen reader users can interpret it.

Color and Font

While our form templates are set up to follow our branding guidelines, you should still be aware of your color choices. Provide clear color contrast between the text and background.

Don’t use color alone to convey meaning, such as a red “stop” button and a green “go” button. Also use text.

Confirmation page

Don’t forget to make sure the completion or thank you page is also accessible.

Test

Do a dry run of the survey with a variety of readers before using it. Ask your IT or Communications departments to test the survey for accessibility, or check it using tools such as Silktide.

Form and Survey Tools