We recently discussed how you can use Fillable PDF Forms in the Online Forms app. The philosophy behind the Online Forms app is to digitize a paper form submission process. But the subject of cross-browser compatibility is a complex one. Depending on how you set up your Online Forms, the forms itself may not be cross browser compatible.
For schools using Fillable PDF forms, for full cross-browser compatibility, your PDF forms will need to be converted to another format called Scalable Vector Graphics (or SVG for short). Right now, the process of converting PDF forms to SVG is a manual one, and requires that schools engage with the QuickSchools support team to make the conversion. In the future, we’ll be automating this process so that uploaded PDF forms are automatically converted to SVG for full cross browser compatibility.
Note also that the SVG conversion that we employ does not currently support all input forms, like dropdowns. So to discuss these differences (i.e. advantages and disadvantages), we’ve provided the table below:
|
Custom Fields |
Native Fillable PDF |
PDF Converted to SVG |
| Limited control over layout of fields. Font and font sizes would need to be controlled via a custom CSS. | Full control on layout of fields, fonts, and font sizes. Can also include images, like a regular PDF. | Full control on layout of fields, fonts, and font sizes. Can also include images, like a regular PDF. |
| Full cross-browser compatibility. Also runs on mobile devices. | Limited cross-browser support. Runs primarily on Google Chrome. | Full cross browser support. Also runs on mobile devices. |
| Support for all fields input types: Text, Dropdowns, Checkboxes, etc. | Support for all fields input types: Text, Dropdowns, Checkboxes, etc. | Supports Basic Input Type, like Text and Check Boxes. Does NOT support Dropdowns. |
We’ll hopefully expand SVG support to include dropdowns, but for now, dropdown support is only available for either Custom Fields or Native Fillable PDF. If you’d like to learn more about our Online Forms app, and cross-browser compatibility for PDF forms, please feel free to reach out to our support team.
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