PDF accessibility checker
Check a PDF against the machine-checkable criteria of PDF/UA. The report shows each problem with its pages and how to fix it in Word, InDesign or Acrobat.
What the check covers
The check tests the file against the rules of PDF/UA that software can decide: whether the PDF is tagged, has a title and a language, whether images have alternative text, whether tables, lists and headings are structured, and many more. The result reads “X of Y machine-checkable criteria met; manual review needed”.
Some requirements can only be judged by a person who knows the content, for example whether alternative text describes the image or whether the reading order makes sense. The report lists these points separately.
How it works
Choose the PDF/UA part to check against, or keep Automatic.
Upload a PDF of up to 25 MB and 500 pages. The check usually takes a few seconds.
Read the report: the problems by topic, the pages they are on, the steps to fix them, and the points a person has to review.
Common problems and how to fix them
Each page explains what a rule requires, why it matters for people using screen readers, and how to fix it in the source file. All error pages
- Character encoding failed: characters without Unicode mapping
- Content is neither tagged nor marked as artifact
- Custom tags are not mapped to standard tags
- Document language is missing or invalid
- Figure or formula has no alternative text
- Fonts are not embedded or are faulty
- Heading structure is incorrect
- Links are not tagged or have no description
- List structure is invalid
- PDF document title missing or not displayed
- PDF is not tagged or the structure tree is incomplete
- PDF/UA identifier is missing or wrong
- Tab order failed: pages with annotations need /Tabs /S
- Table structure is invalid or header cells are not assigned
- Tagged annotations failed: comments and other annotations without tags
- Tagged form fields failed: form fields without tag or description
Laws and guides
Questions
About the PDF accessibility checker.
Does a clean result mean my PDF is accessible?
No. Software can check whether a document has tags, a title, a language and alternative text, but not whether the alternative text is meaningful or the reading order makes sense. The report always lists the points a person has to review.
What is PDF/UA?
PDF/UA (ISO 14289) is the international standard for accessible PDF files. Part 1 is based on PDF 1.7, part 2 on PDF 2.0. Many laws refer to WCAG; PDF/UA describes the technical requirements an accessible PDF file has to meet.
Which part should I check against?
Most documents are PDF 1.7 files and should be checked against PDF/UA-1. Choose PDF/UA-2 for PDF 2.0 files. With Automatic, the check uses PDF/UA-2 if the file declares it and PDF/UA-1 otherwise.
What happens to my file?
The file is checked on a server we rent in the EU, by a service there that has no connection to the internet. It goes only to the processors listed in our privacy policy, and nobody looks at the content. The file and the report are deleted 24 hours after the check, or right away with Delete now on the report page.
Who can see the report?
Only the browser that started the check. The report page is not listed in search engines. You can download the report as a PDF and share that file.
Does it cost anything?
No. A check counts as one of the free files per day, like a conversion. You do not need an account.