Under the present invention, an electronic document is accessed. Each user interface control (UIC) in the electronic document is confirmed to be operationally classified as signed or unsigned by a given digital signature based on whether the UIC is associated with a data node that is signed by the digital signature. It is then determined whether the signed UIC is visible. A token representing a geometric location of the visible signed UIC within a visual representation of the electronic document and a relative location of the visible signed UIC to other visible signed UICs in the electronic document is then recorded. However, if the UIC is contained within any hierarchic UICs, the location thereof is first converted to the geometric location within the visual representation prior to recording the token. The digital signature can then be generated and/or validated unless a UIC overlap and/or layout violation is committed.