Issues or Symptoms
After updating to the latest version of a browser users are no longer able to sign documents electronically.
Known Cause
Change in touch event settings in the browsers
Resolution or Workaround
Please Note: There is no workaround for Chromebooks or Microsoft Surface Pros
The 3 browsers that will be discussed in this article are Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome.
Microsoft Edge
Please note this is for the "classic" Edge browser. If you have the new Chromium-based Edge (which is version 78 and above and can be identified by clicking on the three dots in the top right corner and select Help and Feedback -> About Microsoft Edge to find version number), please see the steps below for Chrome 78 or higher.
- Open a new page in Edge.
- Enter about:flags in Edge's address bar.
- Press Ctrl + F to search for touch events.
- Make sure Touch events is set to Always on.
- Then close out of Edge entirely and re-launch the browser and try using touchscreen / Digital Pen again to validate it works correctly.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open a new tab in Firefox, and type about:config into the address bar.
- Click through the warning.
- There will be a search box at the top. Type in "touch"
- One of the results will be dom.w3c_touch_events.enabled --Double click that entry. Change the value the browser pops up with to "0" to disable.
Google Chrome 78 or higher on Windows
You'll need to make a change to the shortcut that launches it. These steps also work for the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge browser (newest versions of Edge for windows computers.
- Locate the Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge shortcut on your desktop.
- Right-click in, and select Properties.
- In the Target box, add " --touch-events" to the end of the text in there. (there is a space before the two dashes, also do not include the quotation marks at the beginning or end in the target field box.)
- Close any Chrome or Edge windows that are currently open, then launch from the shortcut.