Introducing the PDF Forms TWG

The introduction of interactive forms to PDF with version 1.2, and subsequent adoption by the US Internal Revenue Service for its online library in 1995, is considered to be one of the key moments in the early history of PDF. It brought the previously niche technology into the mainstream consciousness of end users and did so for something other than “electronic paper”.

While Adobe made additions to the native PDF forms technology to bring it to functional parity with HTML (3.x at the time) as well as improvements in the integrated JavaScript language and accessibility - little else has changed for quite a long time. In the meantime, HTML forms have advanced in ways that PDF can’t replicate, making it difficult or impossible to build workflows that leverage both.

Enterprises have been pursuing digital transformation for a while now, but the COVID-19 pandemic and the move to “work from home” has brought unprecedented growth to this business segment where the use of electronic forms is key.  Although companies such as DocuSign, Adobe, Dropbox and others have created their own extensions to PDF to enable rich workflows - it is imperative that these capabilities make their way into the core PDF standard.

To accomplish this goal, the PDF Association is starting a new PDF Forms Technical Working Group (TWG).  This community is dedicated to advancing the current PDF Forms technologies through the introduction of new declarative models with integrated semantics.  These capabilities will not only bring PDF in alignment with modern HTML forms, but re-establish PDF’s leadership in the forms and workflow world. The community will also work closely with the PDF Digital Signatures, PDF Reuse, and PDF/UA TWGs to ensure that those groups' input is heard.

PDF Association members can join the PDF Forms TWG today via the Member Area!