I need to tag a 17 page PDF, so that it is accessible to screen readers. The PDF form content contains several sections, most of which contain questions that require a fillable field or checkbox (its an application form). I've detected form fields, so there are form fields in the document. I am having a quandary, though, about how to properly tag the PDF form. The current tag structure in the PDF was carried over from the original Word source document, which did not utilize Styles, therefore, every line has a paragraph and there are complex tables (which the author used to design the form in Word) which include the checkboxes in them, some of which transfered as "lists" some of which didn't. I'm not necessarily needing the reader to read a table or list, but rather form groups and sections, like you might find when reading an application form.
I guess I'm wondering how to structure this beast:
How can a section that contains says header, instructions, followed by several questions requiring either a checkbox field or text field be tagged. Here's an example.
SECTION H: Disability. Please tell us about your disability.
Are you disabled? checkbox Yes checkbox No
If yes, when did this disability begin? field for text entry
What is your disability? field for text entry
(The above questions were actually contructed as part of a table, however, cells are merged and there are no easy rows columns (its all over the place). Which brings me to my next question. Can I do away with the tables that are detected from the original Word document and use some other structure to incorporate the fields?
Assistance is appreciated.