Moving Forward

Because of the varying degree of support for XFA forms in modern web browsers, makers of PDFs should stay with Acroforms, and keep the forms as simple, and as static as possible.

Acroforms are fillable and are the javascript support for Acroforms (which makes form smart and powerful) are much better than XFA, a depreciated proprietary format in the upcoming PDF specification.

User experience

10-10SH-Fill-not-rendering

Solutions

  1. Make everybody download the PDF, and render it using Adobe Reader (which supports both Acroform and XFA forms).

  2. Make all the forms Acroforms, instead of XFA based forms. Ensure that all forms are accessible through modern devices.

  3. Transform form filling into an online form, only generating the PDF after for record storage.