Build structured form templates with TeleForm Designer

TeleForm Designer enables you to create structured form templates that are optimised for accurate recognition by the TeleForm Reader module.

In a graphical drag-and-drop interface (See Fig. 1), you can create forms in a variety of styles, layout data entry fields, embed business rules and logic, define data validation options, and set up automatic exports.

Typical form components include constrained print fields to capture short written responses such as names or dates, barcodes, image zone/signatures and either single or multi-select choice fields. You can also add logos and artwork to your form to match your look and feel/brand guidelines.

Bespoke scripting, in VBA, C# or VB.NET, can also be used to perform complex lookups and enforce multi-field validation rules.

If you already have forms designed, you can scan a form created outside of TeleForm and overlay it with TeleForm data entry fields to capture your existing forms alongside new ones.

TeleForm Designer offers:

Consistency of designs and layout
Quicker development time of new forms
Re-usable library of forms and field groups
Better and more intuitive forms for end-users to complete
Strict version control for new or modified form templates

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Case studies

Racing to School

Education charity reduce manual work by 75% by automating data collection from post event surveys with TeleForm.

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Keele University

Keele CTU saves time by capturing data from paper-based clinical trials with TeleForm.

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Civica

Following a OJEU tender process, the British Council commissioned Civica as the prime contractor to deliver an on-screen marking (OSM) solution to mark up to 5 million ‘pen and paper’ IELTS tests each year.

As part of the agreement, Civica appointed ePC as its sub-contractor for the script capture, processing and verification work.
University of Bristol

Based at the University of Bristol, the ‘Children of the 90s’ study uses TeleForm to capture data from the paper versions of their questionnaires.

How to optimise TeleForm templates for scanning

A well-designed structured form template improves the processing of the scanned form and reduces manual intervention and increases capture rates.

Structured form template refers to the consistency of objects on a template. Most templates are highly structured with form ID blocks and data entry fields are in the same place on every copy of the form. For example, one “timesheet” will have the same structure as every other “timesheet”, even though the data entry fields contain different values.

Choice fields

Choice fields can accept a single choice (e.g. yes or no) or multiple choices (e.g. select all that apply).

Choice fields offer an array of different styles including bubbles, boxes, underlines, responses and brackets for the recipient to mark.
Cornerstones

Cornerstones will assist with page alignment, de-skewing images and adjusting for print or scan size variations.
Constrained print fields

Handwriting is most effectively read by ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition) technology when it is laid out in a constrained print field, with one character per box.

Constrained print fields can gather data such as names, dates, and numeric figures. The boxes act as guides for the person filling out the form, ensuring clear, readable handwriting is used.
Capture zones

Capture Zones are typically used to capture blocks of cursive handwriting or other unquantifiable data. They are presented to the operator to allow high-speed coding or re-keying of the content. Advanced features, such as mark identification or predictive typing, help speed up this process.
Image zones

Image zones can capture machine-print text, barcodes and pictures. This element is often used to capture printed address labels, barcodes or provide images of handwritten comments.
Form identification block

Form identification blocks help with page rotation (where the sheet is scanned upside down) and answer sheet identification for reconciliation. It will also help with version control should future versions of the form need to be used in parallel with older but very similar forms.
Barcode

TeleForm can recognise all standard barcode types, including 2D matrix barcodes. These can be added to your form to identify respondents.
Unconstrained Likert scale

An unconstrained Likert scale (named after Rensis Likert) can be used to allow respondents to provide a rating or response without subconscious bias caused by limiting ratings to pre-defined values within a range.