Screen Reader sounds ALL underscores in a fillable form, HELP!

[raphael_9614]

I have a fillable formin which each field has an underscore.   I've tagged the doc, and been through all accessibility processes.  When I test it with the screen reader, it will read "underscore underscore underscore......" endlessly till it reaches the last one.  Outside of recreating the do without the underscores, is there a way to get the reader to ignore them altogether?  I'm unable to select and label them as artifacts in the reading order panel.  I also do not have access to the source file.  Any suggestion is welcome, thanks!

[Pariah Burke]

Which screenreader are you using for testing? (And what operating system and version of Acrobat.)

Do the fields themselves have underscores in them--the field name, contents, or auto-filled contents--or was it the text that was there before you ran Automatically Detect Form Fields?

Most assistive technology, including screen readers, enter into a "forms mode" wherein they ignore static text on the page and read only the fields. Therefore the underscores from before form field detection are ignored, or are supposed to be.

[raphael_9614]

I'm using Acrobat's embedded reader. BTW, the acrobat version is pro 2024.003.20112

Raphael Web
[PII removed by moderator]

[Pariah Burke]

If you're on Windows, try using NVDA https://www.nvaccess.org/download/ . If you're on a Mac, activate the built-in VoiceOver screenreader and try that. That will help us figure out if it's Acrobat-centric problem.