Back to Blog

PDF Accessibility — Creating Documents Everyone Can Read

PDFs are used worldwide, but for people with visual impairments or reading disabilities, a poorly structured PDF can be extremely difficult to read. When a screen reader tries to read a PDF where text order is jumbled or images lack descriptions, the content becomes incomprehensible.

In this article, we'll cover the fundamentals of PDF accessibility and how to create PDFs that everyone can read.

What Is an Accessible PDF?

An accessible PDF is a document designed so that everyone — regardless of disability — can understand its content. Specifically, this means the document structure is defined with tags, images have alternative text, and the reading order follows a logical sequence.

Why Accessibility Matters

There are several compelling reasons why PDF accessibility is important.

  • Legal requirements: Laws like Japan's Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, the ADA (US), and the EAA (EU) require accessible electronic documents from public institutions and businesses
  • User diversity: WHO estimates that about 16% of the world's population has some form of disability. Beyond visual impairments, this includes age-related vision loss, color blindness, and cognitive disabilities
  • Quality improvement: Accessible PDFs achieve better search engine indexing and improved document reusability, ultimately making documents more usable for everyone

Checklist for Creating Accessible PDFs

Follow these points to create highly accessible PDFs.

  • Tag document structure: Explicitly tag headings (H1–H6), paragraphs, lists, and tables. This allows screen readers to correctly interpret the document's logical structure
  • Add alt text to images: Set descriptive alternative text for all visual elements — figures, photos, charts
  • Verify reading order: Ensure the text reading order matches the visual layout. Multi-column layouts are especially prone to mixed reading order
  • Don't rely on color alone: Using only color to convey information (e.g., "red fields are required") excludes people with color vision deficiency. Supplement with icons or text
  • Check font embedding and size: Verify that text isn't too small and that fonts are properly embedded
  • Set the language: Set the correct language (e.g., "en" for English) in the document metadata so screen readers can select the appropriate voice engine

Tools for Accessibility Checking

Several tools are available to verify PDF accessibility.

  • Adobe Acrobat Pro: Features an "Accessibility Check" that automatically verifies tag structure and reading order
  • PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker): A free, open-source PDF/UA verification tool that generates detailed reports
  • axe PDF: An accessibility verification tool by Deque Systems that checks against WCAG and PDF/UA standards

What Is PDF/UA?

PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) is an international standard (ISO 14289) for accessible PDFs. It systematically defines requirements for document tagging, mandatory alternative text, reading order specifications, and more. PDF/UA compliance is increasingly required for government-facing documents.

Summary

PDF accessibility isn't just for a specific group of people. By covering the basics — tagging, alternative text, and reading order — you can create documents that are readable and usable for everyone. When creating documents, ask yourself: "Can everyone read this?"