Answering questions and signing terms

Not everything a portal asks for is a file. The same list holds questions to answer, terms to sign, checklists to work through, and details to confirm. This covers each of them, and the Send my answers button at the end that a lot of people miss.

Each ask is marked Required or Optional, and a required one you haven't answered yet has a red edge down its left side, so you can scan the page for what is left.

Questions

A text question gives you a box to type in. Short ones are a single line, longer ones a bigger box. Type your answer and press Save.

Text boxes also save when you tap away from them, so an answer you typed and then left isn't lost. An empty box saves nothing, and an answer you didn't change isn't sent again.

Some text questions expect a particular kind of answer: a phone number, a number, a date or an email address. The line under the box says which before you start, and an answer that doesn't fit is refused with a message such as "That doesn't look like a phone number." A phone number needs 7 to 15 digits; spaces, dashes and a country code are fine. A date can be written either way round, like 03/10/2033 or 3 Oct 2033.

Once saved, your answer shows at the top right of the row with a green tick. Tap the pencil to change it (the button then reads Update), or the cross to delete it.

A choice question gives you a list of options. Round buttons mean pick one, square boxes mean pick as many as apply. Make your selection and press Save. To change your answer later, tap the pencil beside it.

A single tick box is an acknowledgement: tick it and press Save.

Answering a choice question can open more questions under it, grouped with a line such as Because you answered "Yes" to "Do you drive for work?":. That is the portal asking only what applies to you. Change the answer and they go away again.

Details about you

Some rows ask for a piece of information that lives on your record with the company rather than being a one-off answer: a mobile number, a website, a license number, whatever they keep on file.

These behave slightly differently. If they already have a value, the row shows it with a pencil beside it rather than an open box, and you tap it to change it. Pressing Save (or Update) replaces what was there, so the company always has your current details rather than a pile of old answers. A mobile number is checked the same way as a phone-number question.

Terms to accept

A terms row shows the full text on the page, in a scrollable panel. Read it there; there is no separate document to find.

Underneath, depending on how the company set it up, you may be asked to:

• Type your full name to accept.
• Sign below, drawing your signature with your finger or your mouse. There is a Clear button if the first attempt looks nothing like your signature. If you can't draw one (you use a keyboard or a screen reader, say), tick I can't draw a signature. Use my typed name as my signature. under the pad and type your full name instead.
• Tick the box reading "I have read and accept the" document name and its version number. This one is always there.

The Accept button stays grayed out until the box is ticked and, where one is asked for, your signature is drawn. A missing name is flagged when you press it.

Once accepted, the row turns green and shows Accepted by your name, the version, the date and time, and your signature if you drew one. Your acceptance stays tied to the version you saw.

If the company later issues a new version, the green block tells you so, with a note that what you signed still stands. It does not undo your acceptance or put you back on their outstanding list.

To read and accept again (to fix a signature, or to sign a newer version), press Sign again. Your earlier acceptance stays on record, and the terms come back for you to accept. On a required row, that also reopens the Send my answers step below until you have accepted again.

A PDF to sign

A PDF row shows the document's name and an Open button. The PDF opens in a new tab. Read it, then come back to the portal. The page remembers that you opened it, so the tick box stays unlocked if your phone reloads the page when you switch back.

Once you have opened it, tick the box saying you have read it and agree, type your full name and draw your signature if asked, and press Sign. The Sign button stays grayed out until everything it needs is there.

The row then turns green and shows who signed and when, with a link to download your signed copy: the PDF with a page added recording your signature.

If the company later replaces the PDF, the green block tells you so. What you signed still stands. Press Sign again to read and sign the new one.

A date

A date row opens your phone's date picker. Pick the date and press Save. Some dates are limited, for example a date of birth can't be in the future, and the picker only offers dates that will be accepted.

Checklists

A checklist row is for things to go and do rather than send back: complete an induction, watch a safety video, walk a site with a supervisor.

It holds a list of tasks, and a task can have steps underneath it. Each ticks off on its own, so you make real progress through a long induction rather than facing one all-or-nothing box at the end. A counter on the row keeps score, like "3 of 9 steps done", and turns green when you are through.

Ticking a task with steps under it ticks all its steps at once, which is the fast way to close out a block you have genuinely finished. Untick it and they all come back.

What each item said is recorded at the moment you tick it. If the company rewrites the procedure afterwards, that can't change what you signed off on.

The Send my answers button at the end

This is the part people miss.

Above your asks, a strip shows how far through you are, such as "3 of 5 answered", and stays in view as you scroll the list. Go to the next one takes you to the next required ask you have not done. The same count sits under the list with "2 still to go" beside it. Both count required asks only.

Once every required ask is answered, a bar appears pinned to the bottom of your screen reading Everything is answered. Check your answers, then send them to finish. with a Send my answers button. The company can change that wording, but it is always the one bar at the bottom of the screen.

Answering everything is not the same as being finished. Until you press Send my answers, the company still has you on their outstanding list, and you may keep getting reminders. The gap is there so you can look back over your answers first.

Press Send my answers and the bar is replaced by a green panel with the company's message (by default "Thanks, that is everything we need for now. If anything needs changing, we will let you know."), which may tell you what happens next. The company is notified, and you may get a confirmation email.

If nothing on your page is marked required, there is no progress bar and no Send my answers step.

Changing an answer after you have sent your answers

You can. Editing an answer keeps you finished. Deleting a required answer, unticking a required checklist item, or pressing Sign again on required terms takes you back to outstanding, and you need to press Send my answers again once it is filled back in. The same happens if the company adds a new required ask after you finished.

If something won't save

• Check the button isn't disabled. Save and Accept stay grayed out until the row has what it needs: text in the box, a signature drawn, the box ticked.
• Read the message on the row. An answer in the wrong shape (a phone number with letters in it, a date that isn't a date) is refused with a line saying why.
• Check you are online. The indicator near the top of the page says Offline when you are, and nothing saves without a connection.
• Check the answer went in. A saved answer shows on the row. If the row still looks empty, it didn't save.

If it still won't go, tell the company that sent you the link. They can see exactly what has arrived against your name.