The order of fIllable text fields flow in some programs but messed up in others.

[kinguk]

I have recreated a few forms in InDesign and am making them interactive so as to have the fillable text fields. I have been learning the tab orders on InDesign. I am almost there...

The order of the text fields (tabbing from one to the next) works in some programs but not others.

Right now, the tab order is correct when the form is used in Google Chrome and Acrobat. When opened in Microsoft Edge (this lovely little browser which has come onto our computers and set itself as default) and in my InDesign program, the order is messed up. I haven't tested any others.

This form is going out to over a thousand viewers so the option to simply recommend opening on a specific program(s) is one I want to avoid. I want the tab order to flow correctly in whichever they use.

Thanks.

[BobLevine]

Beyond Acrobat and Reader on a desktop, interactive PDF, including fillable forms is a crapshoot. That is what you should be recommending to recipients. If you want it filled out in a browser, use an HTML form on your website.

That said, are you using the new chromium-based Edge or the old Edge?

[kinguk]

That's the thing, I don't use Edge. It just sneaks in and I am too lazy to deal with it right now... But I know a lot of the users may end up opening it to Edge so I guess I should learn more. This won't be on a website. This is just an option for people who no longer want to use the paper forms. I'll look into creating HTML forms for future! Thanks for the tip.

[Geоrge]

All pdf-readers that not Adobe Reader is an evil. 

[kinguk · Accepted solution]

Based on the above responses, I should recommend they open with Adobe Acrobat or Reader. Well, that's easy enough for me! This is my first in-depth work into interactive .pdfs.