Client file

Production of forms and graphics for publication in legislation

Background

1. The Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) is implementing a new system for the drafting and publishing of legislation. This is the first step in the implementation of the Public Access to Legislation (PAL) Project. The second step will be for the new legislation website to go live.

2. The PCO is providing this information to government departments and other agencies that issue drafting instructions to the PCO in order to:

• inform our clients of how prescribed forms and graphics will be produced for publication in legislation using the PAL system
• provide guidance to clients on how to format forms and supply graphics for publication in legislation drafted by the PCO.

The three common categories of prescribed forms

3. The PCO believes that the forms required by clients to be prescribed in legislation usually fall within one of the following three categories:

• forms that can be produced using text only
• forms that must be pre-designed by clients and supplied to the PCO because actual forms must effectively be facsimiles of them. See, for example, the Consumer Information Standards (Used Motor Vehicles) Regulations 2003 (SR 2003/326) and the Land Transport (Driver Licensing) Amendment Rule 2006 (SR 2006/84)
• forms that contain a mixture of text and graphical elements such as text boxes and check boxes that clients wish to retain. See, for example, the Companies Act 1993 Amendment Regulations (No 2) 2004 (SR 2004/453), the Charities (Fees, Forms, and Other Matters) Regulations 2006 (SR 2006/301), and the Crown Minerals (Petroleum) Regulations 2007 (SR 2007/138).

Production and publication of forms under the PAL system

Text-only forms

4. Under the PAL system, whenever possible, the PCO will produce and publish prescribed forms in legislation using text only.

Clients should therefore note that if instructions are supplied for a prescribed form that contains text and graphical elements such as text boxes and check boxes, the PCO will draft and publish the form using text only, unless paragraph 5 or 6 applies.

Pre-designed forms

5. If a client requires a pre-designed form of the kind described in paragraph 3 to be prescribed in legislation and has advised the PCO accordingly, the client will be asked to supply the form as an entire graphic file in both its original source format and, if that format is not Visio, one of the other three graphic file formats that the PCO can accept under the PAL system. See the section on graphics below for acceptable graphic file formats.

Forms containing text and graphical elements

6. If a client requires a form to contain both text and graphical elements such as text boxes and check boxes because the client considers it inappropriate to omit these elements in favour of text-based alternatives and has advised the PCO accordingly, the client will also be asked to supply the form as an entire graphic file in both its original source format and, if that format is not Visio, in one of the other three graphic file formats that the PCO can accept under the PAL system. See the section on graphics below for acceptable graphic file formats.

Forms in Bills

7. It is unusual for forms to be prescribed in Acts. In Bills, forms should be included only in exceptional circumstances. Difficulties can arise in the legislative process, for example, when tracking changes to forms as the Bill progresses through the House. Also, if a form contained in an Act needs to be changed for legal reasons, an amendment to the Act is required.

Guidelines for text-only forms

8. If a client requires the PCO to draft a form, the client should supply the text with little or no formatting, and the PCO will draft a prescribed form to the extent that the PAL system will allow. Whenever possible, therefore, forms should contain minimally formatted text and avoid graphical elements because:

• the publishing tool that will be used by the PCO under the PAL system is essentially a text editor, not a graphic design application
• the format of a form will be determined by the PAL system
• forms published in legislation (legislative forms) that attempt to match the often complex format needed for actual forms will be difficult or impossible to accurately produce under the PAL system because:
  • the desired format may simply not be possible
  • if it were possible to achieve some of these complex format features in print, they may display badly or incorrectly on the PAL website due to the manual "touchups" involved in achieving them
• attempting to produce forms as they would actually be used is resource intensive for both clients and the PCO while the benefits are negligible because, in practice, actual forms are reformatted in a number of ways:
  • they are typically printed in A4 size
  • they may be modified by departments in terms of typeface and layout
  • they may be modified by departments for actual electronic completion
  • electronic forms viewed in a web browser will display according to user preferences.

9. Clients are asked to consider the following points when preparing instructions for the PCO to draft prescribed forms:

Do not use, for example:

• text boxes
• check boxes
• leader dots.

There are text-based alternatives for representing graphical elements of this kind, including:

Text boxes

Text boxes function as placeholders for text to be inserted by users of a form. In an actual form these might be represented by spaces, leader dots, rules, boxes, or (in an electronic form) as fields.

However, in a legislative form, text boxes need not be used. Instead, a colon should be placed after words such as name, address, etc. For example:

Applicant’s full name:
Address for service:
Email:

and not:

Applicant’s full name:
Address for service:
Email:

Check boxes

A group of check boxes is equivalent to a list from which the user of a form must make a selection.

However, in a legislative form, check boxes need not be used. Instead, present items for selection in a list, preceded by an instruction, such as "Select one from the following list:", or similar. The list may be bulleted, unbulleted, or included within the text of the form presented as italicised instructions within square brackets.

In an actual form, as opposed to a legislative form, the format used, and the wording relating to the format, will be determined by the department or organisation that creates the form for users and by the delivery media. The content that users of the actual form are required to supply must be as prescribed in the legislative form.

Also, do not use:

Horizontal and vertical rules

• unnecessary horizontal or vertical rules (including variable length or variable width rules, for example, double rules or bold rules)

Leader dots

• extra rows of leader dots as placeholders for entries such as dates, addresses, names of signatories, etc, and entries that may require considerable space in the actual form

Cues for dates

• cues for dates, such as ".../.../20..." or "Date......" when " / /20 " and "Date:" will suffice.

Minimal text formatting

Unless they are pre-designed forms or forms that contain a mixture of text and graphical elements that are supplied as graphics (in which case the format of the form is fixed within the graphic file), text for forms should be supplied by clients with minimal formatting. PCO format will then be applied to the text and the PCO will draft a prescribed form to the extent the PAL system will allow. The following basic format should be followed:

Placeholder text in square brackets

• placeholder text should be placed in square brackets (for example, "[full name]", or "[year, month]", or "[specify cash, credit card, cheque, direct debit or direct credit]").

Do not use extra spaces

• extra spaces should not be used as place holders for text.

Guidelines for forms supplied as graphic files

10. As noted above, clients will be asked to supply the following kinds of forms to the PCO for publishing in legislation as graphic files:

• forms of the kind described in paragraph 3 that have been pre-designed
• forms that contain a mixture of text and graphical elements.

11. Clients should supply the PCO with forms as graphic files only if it is absolutely necessary for a pre-designed form or a form with graphical elements to be prescribed in the legislation. This is because:

• forms presented as graphics cannot be edited by the PCO
• forms presented as graphics cannot be electronically searched
• on the PAL website file sizes would be undesirably large
• on the PAL website download speeds would be unacceptably slow.

Pre-designed forms

12. If a client requires a pre-designed form to be prescribed in legislation, the client will be asked to supply the pre-designed form as a graphic file in both its original source format and, if that format is not Visio, in one of the other three graphic file formats that the PCO can accept under the PAL system. See the section on graphics below for acceptable graphic file formats.

13. If a pre-designed form supplied to the PCO by a client needs to be changed for legal reasons (for example, because of inconsistency with the primary legislation), the client will be asked to re-supply the graphic file in an amended form for publication. Under the PAL system, as part of the drafting and publication process, the PCO will not involve itself in editing forms supplied as graphics.

Forms containing text and graphical elements

14. If a client requires a form that contains a mixture of text and graphical elements to be prescribed in legislation, the client will be asked to supply the form as a graphic file in both its original source format and, if that format is not Visio, in one of the other three graphic file formats that the PCO can accept under the PAL system. See the section on graphics below for acceptable graphic file formats.

15. If a form containing a mixture of text and graphical elements supplied to the PCO by a client needs to be changed for legal reasons (for example, because of inconsistency with the primary legislation), the client will be asked to re-supply the graphic file in an amended form for publication. Under the PAL system, as part of the drafting and publication process, the PCO will not involve itself in editing forms supplied as graphics.

Guidelines for graphics

Acceptable graphic file formats

16. Under the PAL system, each graphic should be supplied by clients both in its original source format, and in one of the following file formats:

• .vsd
• .jpeg
• .tiff
• .png

For example, if a graphic was created in another graphic application, the original file should be supplied as well as a .vsd, .jpeg, .tiff, or .png file.

Note: For forms, flowcharts, and diagrams, the preferred PCO format is Visio (.vsd). Provision of content in Visio format will allow smooth processing through the PAL system and provide for a high-quality result. A graphic created in Visio does not need to be supplied in a second format.

Dimensions of graphics supplied by clients

17. All graphics supplied to the PCO for publication in legislation must fit within the margins of a standard legislative page (110 mm wide x 188 mm deep in portrait layout, and 188 mm wide and 110 mm deep in landscape layout). However, it may be necessary for the PCO to further reduce the size of a graphic if other elements, such as headings, appear on the same page.

Resolution of graphics supplied by departments

18. All graphics should be supplied to the PCO by clients with a minimum resolution of 1200 dpi.

Contacting the PCO

19. To clarify requirements in relation to graphic file formats and resolution, clients may contact:

Michelle Groves, Prepublication Coordinator, phone (04) 817 9249.

In Michelle’s absence, assistance can be obtained by calling the PCO’s Prepublication Unit on (04) 439 6425.

What clients should bear in mind when considering whether to provide graphic files to the PCO

Editing of graphics during the drafting process

20. As part of the drafting and publication process under the PAL system, the PCO will not edit graphic files (including forms) supplied by clients. Clients will be asked to amend all graphic files (including forms) and re-supply them to the PCO for publication.

Amending of graphics after legislation containing them has been enacted

21. Graphics cannot be partially amended. Instead, the entire graphic file must be replaced. If a graphic must be legally amended, the PCO will ask the client that supplied the graphic file to alter the graphic and re-supply the entire amended graphic file for publication.

Public accessibility

22. Ability to search: graphics (including forms) will not be searchable on the PAL website.

23. Appearance of graphics: graphics (including forms as graphics) usually must be reduced in size to fit within the margins of a standard legislative page (110 mm wide x 188 mm deep in portrait layout, and 188 mm wide and 110 mm deep in landscape layout). However, it may be necessary for the PCO to further reduce the size of a graphic if other elements, such as headings, appear on the same page. This may affect the legibility of the graphic.

24. Size and speed of downloading graphics on the PAL website: graphic file sizes are typically large and can be slow to download. This could potentially affect users accessing legislation that contains graphics via the PAL website.

Actual forms based on prescribed forms produced as graphics in legislation

25. In general, the majority of prescribed forms produced as graphics are not used, in reality, in that format. Actual forms are typically printed in A4 size and may be modified in a number of ways. Exceptions to this would be forms described above as "pre-designed".

Examples of forms

26. See below for some examples of the categories of forms discussed above.

Example of all forms (PDF 244Kb)

Example of a pre-designed form (PDF 196Kb)
First example of a form with text and graphical elements (PDF 21Kb)
First example of a text and graphical elements form reproduced as a text-only form under the PAL system (PDF 52Kb)
Second example of a form with text and graphical elements (PDF 27Kb)
Second example of a text and graphical elements form reproduced as a text-only form under the PAL system (PDF 39Kb)