I need to develop a simple form (intended only for printing) to be filled in by arbitrary end users (i.e. no specialized software). Ideally, I’d like the end-user to be able to save their inputs to the form and update it periodically. It seems that (at least without LiveCycle Enterprise Suite) Adobe Reader won’t save data input in a PDF form. Aside from just distributing the form as a Word document, does anyone have any suggestions?
Background:
I do some work for a volunteer ambulance corps. They have a lot of elderly patients who don’t know (or can’t remember) their medical history. They want to develop a common form with personal information (name, address, DOB, medications list, etc.) for elderly residents to hang on their refrigerators (apparently a common solution to this problem). As some of them (or their children/grandchildren) are computer literate, it would make most sense to provide a download-able blank form that can be filled in, saved, updated, and re-printed as needed. Due to worries about privacy, HIPAA, etc. anything with server-side generation is out, it needs to be 100% client-side, and in a format that the majority of non-technical computer users can access without additional software.
Thanks for any tips… at this point, I’m leaning towards just using a .doc form.
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This organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, funded 100% by donations. Our workstations all run Linux, and we have no software budget. (For those outside the US, or unfamiliar with 501(c)(3) – we’re a non-profit organization, and only funded by donations. Our total budget is about $80,000 USD/year, which includes owning a building, insurance ($25,000/year) and operating two ambulances.)
At this point, I think I’ve decided to just go with a Word document (created in OO, of course). It’s about the only thing I could think of (client-side) that pretty much everyone out there can edit and save.