Form fields must not be hidden by ancestor alt text

PDF/UA check FORM_FIELD_HIDDEN · Forms · severity Medium · PDF/UA 8.10.2 Context

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Why it matters#

If a form field's parent element has alternative text, the field itself becomes hidden. Users won't know the form field exists and cannot fill out the form.

What you will see#

A parent element carries alt text that replaces the form field entirely, so the field never reaches assistive technology.

How to fix#

Remove the Alt or ActualText entry from the ancestor structure elements that enclose the form field's Form element, or move the Form element out from under them so assistive technology can reach the field.

Step-by-step guide#

1. Open the Accessibility tags panel (View > Show/Hide > Side panels > Accessibility tags; the classic Tags panel) and find the Form element that contains the flagged widget's OBJR. Use Options > Find > Unmarked annotations or click the field with the panel open to locate it.
2. Walk up the Form element's ancestors. For each ancestor carrying Alternate Text or Actual Text, right-click the tag > Properties > Tag tab and check the Alternate Text and Actual Text fields.
3. Delete the Alt or ActualText entry from any ancestor where it is not genuinely required. Alt or ActualText on an ancestor replaces its entire subtree for assistive technology, so the field inside becomes unreachable.
4. If the ancestor genuinely needs its Alt (e.g. a Figure with meaningful graphics), instead drag the Form element out from under it in the tags panel to a sibling position at the correct reading-order location, so the field is no longer inside the replaced subtree.
5. After moving, confirm the Form element still sits where the field occurs in the logical reading order (check with All tools > Prepare for accessibility > Fix reading order, the Reading Order tool).

Verify: Re-run the EQChecker scan: FORM_FIELD_HIDDEN should report zero errors. Confirm with a screen reader (e.g. NVDA) that tabbing and virtual navigation both reach and announce the field.

Note: EQChecker passes fields with no structure linkage on this rule; an untagged widget fails the annotation tagging check (ANNOT_TAGGED) and a wrong parent fails WIDGET_PARENT_FORM - fix tagging and Form enclosure first, then clear the ancestor shadowing. The detector triggers on a non-empty Alt on any strict ancestor, or on a Link-typed ancestor; removing ActualText is good practice but Alt is what this rule keys on.

WCAG success criteria#

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value — Level A#

Every UI component must expose a correct name, role, and (where relevant) state/value to assistive technology.

Understanding 4.1.2

Standards#

This check contributes to the following standards:

PDF/UA WCAG A EN 301 549