What the Signer Sees
Your signers never create an Autessa account, install anything, or set a password. They click a link in an email and sign in the browser. This page walks their side of the flow so you know exactly what you're asking people to do.
What it's for
Two reasons to read this: to answer "what will they have to do?" before you send something to an important counterparty, and to talk a stuck signer through the screen they're looking at.
The invitation email
Each signer gets their own email with their own link. It carries the envelope title, who sent it, your custom note if you wrote one, and a button through to the signing page.
Under One at a time, only the first slot is emailed on send; each subsequent signer is invited automatically the moment the previous one finishes. Under Everyone at once, all signers are emailed together.
The link itself is the credential — a single-use, high-entropy token that exists only in that email. Autessa stores a hash of it and never the token, so nobody (including Autessa staff) can reconstruct a signing link from the database. There is no separate one-time code or password step: clicking the link opens the document.
Because the link is the credential, treat a forwarded invitation email the way you'd treat a forwarded signed blank cheque. If a signer needs someone else to sign, they should use Delegate signer (below) rather than forwarding the email — delegation is recorded on the audit trail; forwarding is not.
The signing flow, screen by screen
1. Electronic records & signatures consent
The first screen states that an electronic signature carries the same legal effect as a handwritten one, and that the document and signature may be stored and delivered electronically. The signer picks I agree — continue, or I don't agree, which opens the decline flow.
Nothing is submitted at this point; consent can be withdrawn by simply closing the window at any time before the final submit.
2. Fill in the fields
The document renders in full, with the signer's own fields highlighted and a checklist in the sidebar. Clicking a checklist item scrolls that field into view, and items tick off as they're completed — so on a 40-page agreement nobody has to hunt for the one initials box on page 31.
Fields assigned to other signers are visible but not editable. Prefilled content is already baked into the page and can't be touched.
3. Adopt a signature
Tapping a Signature or Initials field opens the signature pad with three tabs:
| Tab | How it works |
|---|---|
| Draw | Draw with a mouse, trackpad, or finger on a touchscreen. |
| Type | Type a name and pick from several script fonts. The signer's name is suggested. |
| Upload | Upload a PNG or JPG of an existing signature. |
The signer previews the result before applying it, and can redo it.
4. Confirm identity
Before submitting, the signer ticks a statement confirming that they are the named person at that email address, and that they're authorized to sign as that individual. This attestation is part of what the signature certificate records.
5. Done
On Sign document, the signature is embedded and the signer gets a confirmation screen:
- If others still have to sign: their signature is recorded, the next signer is notified automatically, and they'll receive the final copy when everyone has finished.
- If they were the last: the envelope completes immediately and a sealed copy goes out to everyone shortly.
A download link for the final document is emailed to each signer at completion. That link points at a hosted download page that mints a fresh, short-lived URL each time, and offers a request a new link button if it has gone stale — so signers can retrieve their copy months later without contacting you.
How a signer delegates to someone else
A signer who isn't the right person — the contract should go to their colleague, or they're out of office — uses Delegate signer in the header of the signing page.
They enter the delegate's email and optional name. The delegate is added to that same slot — the delegate screen calls this an alternate signer, which is the same thing as joining the slot's client group: either the original signer or the delegate can now sign, and whichever does satisfies the slot. The original signer is not removed.
Requesting the delegation is the signer's own authorization for the delegate to sign, and the event is recorded on the audit trail with both parties named.
How a signer declines
Any signer can decline from the signing page. They're asked for a reason, which is shown to you.
Declining:
- notifies you, the sender,
- records the reason on the audit trail,
- moves the whole envelope to Rejected,
- cannot be undone by the signer.
To proceed after a decline, fix whatever they objected to and send a new envelope.
What a viewer (CC) sees
Viewers get a different, simpler experience. They receive a read-only view link — no consent screen, no fields, no signing. Their emails arrive:
- on send, with a read-only copy,
- after each signature, with a progress copy plus a Signing Status Report page, worded to make clear the document is not yet fully executed,
- at completion, with the final sealed document.
Progress links are deliberately short-lived, since a fresh copy goes out on the next signature anyway.
If the link doesn't work
| What they see | What happened | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "This signing link has expired" | The envelope's expiry passed | The page offers a one-click request for a fresh link, emailed to the same address |
| "This link can't be opened" | The link was voided, already used, or malformed | Check the envelope status — if it was voided, the signer's link is dead by design |
| "Check your inbox" | They requested a new link | A fresh invitation is on its way to the address on the envelope |
| Invitation never arrived | Spam filtering | Open the envelope and use Direct link to send a signing URL through another channel |