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Custom tags are not mapped to standard tags

Programs may use their own tag names, for example names of paragraph styles. PDF/UA requires each such name to be mapped in the role map to a standard tag like H1 or P. Fix it at the source by assigning standard export tags to your styles, or in Acrobat Pro with Edit Role Map.

Updated

Messages you may see

  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.1-5: Non-standard structure type … is not mapped to a standard type
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.1-6: A circular mapping exists for … structure type
  • PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) rule 7.1-7: Standard type … is remapped
  • PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.2.4-3: Structure type … is role mapped to other structure type in the same namespace
  • PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2) rule 8.2.4-4: The standard structure type … is remapped to a non-standard type

What the rule requires

ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1), clause 7.1, contains three role map rules, tested as rules 7.1-5 to 7.1-7. The Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 lists them under checkpoint 02 (Role mapping).

Role mapping rules of PDF/UA-1 (clause 7.1)
RuleRequirement
7.1-5Every non-standard structure type is mapped, in the role map of the structure tree root, to the nearest functionally equivalent standard type of ISO 32000-1, 14.8.4. The mapping may run over several steps but must end at a standard type.
7.1-6There is no circular mapping.
7.1-7Standard types such as P, H1 or Table are not remapped.

PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2, clause 8.2.4) works with namespaces: every structure element must belong to, or be mapped to, the PDF 1.7 namespace, the PDF 2.0 namespace or MathML; there must be no circular mapping, no mapping within the same namespace, and no remapping of standard types to non-standard ones.

The machine check cannot judge whether a mapping is functionally right. Mapping a heading style to P passes all three rules, but screen reader users lose the heading. That needs a manual check.

Why it matters

Assistive technology understands only standard tags. A heading tagged as Heading_Main without a mapping is not announced as a heading, does not appear in the list of headings and cannot be reached with the heading navigation keys. The same applies to lists, tables and figures.

Remapped standard types are worse: if P were mapped to something else, every paragraph in the document would change meaning. Circular mappings leave software without any result.

Common causes

  • A layout program exported style names as tag names without writing a complete role map.
  • A custom tag type was typed into Acrobat's New Tag dialog without a role map entry for it.
  • Several PDFs with different role maps were merged.
  • A tool or script added mappings that point to each other or remap standard types.
  • Long InDesign style names were shortened to the same tag name, so that two styles share one mapping. Users in the Adobe Community report this for style names of 20 characters or more.

Example

A role map with three errors: Heading1 and Title1 point to each other (7.1-6), Body_Text ends at the non-standard type BodyCopy (7.1-5), and the standard type P is remapped (7.1-7):

3 0 obj
<< /Type /StructTreeRoot /K 20 0 R /ParentTree 21 0 R
   /RoleMap << /Heading1 /Title1
               /Title1 /Heading1
               /Body_Text /BodyCopy
               /P /Span >> >>
endobj
Failing: circular, incomplete and remapping entries
3 0 obj
<< /Type /StructTreeRoot /K 20 0 R /ParentTree 21 0 R
   /RoleMap << /Heading1 /H1
               /Heading2 /H2
               /Body_Text /P
               /Caption_Text /Caption >> >>
endobj
Passing the machine check: every custom type ends at a standard type

Structure elements keep their custom names (/S /Heading1); assistive technology looks up the role map and treats them as H1.

How to fix it

Microsoft Word

Microsoft documents the tags that Word writes (Word for Windows version 2408 and later, Word for Mac 16.89 and later): standard types such as Document, H1 to H6, P, L, LI, Table, Figure and Link. A Word export with structure tags therefore rarely causes this finding.

  1. Use the built-in heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2 …) for headings, and base custom styles on them.
  2. If the finding appears, check whether the PDF was edited, merged or post-processed in another program.
  3. Export again from Word with File > Save a Copy (or Save As), file type PDF, More Options > Options > Document structure tags for accessibility, and check the new file.

Adobe InDesign

In InDesign, each paragraph style can be given a PDF export tag. University guides such as the University of Rochester's describe these steps:

  1. Open the Paragraph Styles panel menu and choose Edit All Export Tags, then select PDF.
  2. Assign a standard tag to each style: H1 to H6 for headings, P for body text, Artifact for running heads and decoration.
  3. For a single style, open Paragraph Style Options > Export Tagging and choose the PDF tag there.
  4. Export with Create Tagged PDF and check the file.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

  1. Open the Tags panel: menu (Windows) or View (macOS) > Show/Hide > Side panels > Accessibility tags.
  2. Choose Edit Role Map from the Options menu. Adobe describes this dialog for adding, changing and deleting role maps.
  3. Map each custom tag to the matching standard tag, for example Heading1 to H1 and Body_Text to P.
  4. Remove circular entries and entries that map a standard tag to something else.
  5. Save, check the file again, and look at the Tags panel to confirm that headings and lists have the right meaning.

Alternatively, change the tag type of single elements directly to a standard type in the Tags panel (Properties). For many elements, a correct role map is less work.

Check your PDF

Upload the fixed file to see which machine-checkable criteria it meets now. The report lists the remaining problems with their pages.

Open the checker

Questions

Are custom tags allowed at all?
Yes. PDF/UA allows custom names as long as each one is mapped to a functionally equivalent standard type.
Can I map a custom tag to another custom tag?
In PDF/UA-1 yes, as long as the chain ends at a standard type and has no loop. Short chains are easier to check.
The machine check passes. Is the mapping correct?
Not necessarily. Whether a style called "Intro" should be P or H2 depends on its role in the document, which a person has to judge.

Sources

  1. ISO 14289-1:2014 – Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 1: Use of ISO 32000-1 (PDF/UA-1) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  2. ISO 14289-2:2024 – Document management applications – Electronic document file format enhancement for accessibility – Part 2: Use of ISO 32000-2 (PDF/UA-2) – International Organization for Standardization (ISO), 13 March 2024. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  3. The Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 – PDF Association. Checked on 7 November 2026.
  4. Edit document structure with the Content and Tags panels (Acrobat Pro) – Adobe (helpx.adobe.com). Checked on 7 November 2026.
  5. Word PDF Accessibility – Microsoft Learn, 12 May 2026. Checked on 8 November 2026.
  6. Adobe InDesign – Digital Accessibility – University of Rochester. Checked on 8 November 2026.
  7. Use tags to create accessible PDFs (InDesign) – Adobe (helpx.adobe.com), 2 June 2026. Checked on 7 November 2026.