Minnesota Department of Human ServicesDisability Services DivisionOne DSD People, Access and Culture
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Use the shared One DHS foundation with added DSD examples, scenarios, routes, and services.

One DSD

A required form cannot be completed with a screen reader

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The situation

A provider reports that a DSD form required for authorization cannot be completed with a screen reader and is only available as a scanned image. No one on the team knows who owns the form.

Fictional worked example

Repair the form and the route to using it

This comparison describes the form problem without asking anyone to complete an inaccessible demonstration. The same required information should be usable through an accessible route.

  1. A scan with no working route

    Text and blanks appear only as a picture. The person cannot navigate labeled fields, review the reading order or correct an error with a screen reader.

    What can the person use today while the original is fixed?

  2. A structured form to verify

    Headings explain the sections; every field has a programmatic label; instructions and errors are stated in text; keyboard navigation follows the task.

    Who will test it with assistive technology and confirm the release?

Bring it into your work: Identify the form owner, an immediately usable alternative and a dated plan to fix and test the source form. A visual resemblance to a form is not evidence that it can be completed.

Try the repaired part of a fictional form

A picture of a form cannot provide working field labels or an error that explains what to correct. This example lets you try those features using the keyboard. It makes no appointment and asks for no personal information.

Required. Choose the format to include in the example confirmation.

What to check: The label names the choice, the instructions explain it, the error names the correction, and confirmation describes what follows. A complete form also needs testing with the people and assistive technology that will use it.

What to notice first

  • Unclear accessibility ownership was one of the clearest barriers DSD staff named.
  • A scanned image fails the State accessibility standard and excludes people by default.
  • The fix is at the source, and it needs an owner today.

Questions to ask before acting

  1. Who owns this form, and do they know?
  2. What is the accessible alternative today, while the form is fixed?
  3. How many other forms in the same family have the same problem?

Practical next moves

Who to involve

Route to the form owner and your division's accessibility lead. Ask for an accessible alternative immediately and a fixed form with a date.

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