Accessible forms

There's hardly been a day when I didn't bump into some sort of a form or questionnaire. They seem to be ubiquitous, bombarding people from all directions - by post, email, while visiting websites, filing a tax return, applying for a job. I have to admit - they're highly annoying, many badly designed, and time consuming. But what if it's you who needs to use a questionnaire to gather data?

Provide incentives to users, we were told. Make your questions short and simple. Don't lock people into few options, none of which applies to them.

Well, designing accessible forms is even harder. On top of all the usual considerations, you have to approach your forms from the perspective of users with disabilities. Is what you see on the screen the same as a blind user will hear through a screen reader? Is your text adequately formatted for people with dyslexia? Those are just a few questions to ask yourself.

And of course piloting is crucial as ever.