By Accessible.org · Reviewed
Product reference: Free 1.4.0 / Pro 1.3.2
A long form should earn its length. Before adding steps or a progress indicator, remove questions that do not affect the request. Then organize the remaining work around what the person needs to do.
A short enquiry may work best on one page. Steps become useful when the task has distinct stages, such as describing a project, adding practical details and checking the request before sending it.
Plan the task before the screens
List the information someone can answer immediately and the information they may need to find. A project summary might be easy; an existing website address or a list of affected pages might require another browser tab. Mention those preparation needs before the form begins.
Use headings that explain the purpose of a group. Names such as Project details and How to reach you give more context than Part A and Part B. If two sections contain only one closely related question each, try combining them. Extra navigation should solve a real problem.
A detailed website enquiry plan
- Project details
- Ask for the type of work, a short description and the existing website address if there is one.
- Timing and contact
- Ask about the preferred timeframe and where the team should reply. Explain when a timeframe can be approximate.
- Review and send
- Let the person check their request, correct the reply address and deliberately send the final version.
Use steps to clarify progress
W3C's multi-page form guidance recommends logical stages and clear progress information. Apply that principle to your actual questions: the step title should tell someone what they are doing now, and the sequence should make the remaining work understandable.
Test navigation with realistic answers, including a missing required value. Check that correcting a question does not feel like restarting. For conditional forms, map the main answer paths on paper first. An enquiry about an existing website and one about a new project should each read coherently from beginning to end.
Give important answers a final check
GOV.UK's check-answers pattern supports a review before the final action, with a way to correct information. For an enquiry, a useful review lets someone notice a mistyped contact address, an unclear message or a file selected by mistake.
Make the final button describe the result. Send project enquiry is clearer than Finish when the team will still need to assess the request. Do not describe the review as a confirmed booking, accepted application or signed agreement unless a separate service actually provides that outcome.
Plan for interruptions
If people need supporting information from elsewhere, decide whether saved progress would help. Explain how to return, how long the saved version remains available and that saving is different from sending. A visitor should not leave thinking the team has received a request that is still a draft.
Test the whole return journey with sample data: save, open the private link in a fresh session, inspect the restored answers and complete the submission. In Accessible Forms Pro, visitors must select attachments again when returning to saved progress. Explain this before they save. Repeat the journey after meaningful form changes.
Before you publish
- Every question supports the request being made at this stage.
- The introduction names any information the person should have ready.
- Each step has a useful name and every main conditional path makes sense.
- Back, correction and final submission have been tested with sample answers.
- Saved progress is clearly distinguished from a completed submission.
Using Accessible Forms
Start with clear question groups, then add advanced behavior only when the task benefits from it.
In Free: Free supports complete single-page forms, section headings, visible instructions and linked validation errors.
With Pro: Pro adds named steps, an optional final review with Edit actions and encrypted saved progress through a private link lasting seven days. Without JavaScript, the questions use a one-page submission path. Saved progress is temporary and is removed when Pro is deactivated.
Sources & further reading
The examples and field plans are suggestions to adapt to your form. These references explain the underlying design and accessibility guidance.
- W3C WAI: Multi-page Forms
Supports organizing a longer task into logical stages with progress information.
- GOV.UK Design System: Check answers
Explains review, correction and the distinction between checking and completing a transaction.