How can I make sure my PDF's reading order is correct?

Go to 'All tools' > 'Prepare for accessibility'. Select 'Reading Order tool'. Visually check the numbered boxes to ensure text flows logically. Drag and drop elements if needed to change their order.

Systemic Public Accessibility in Adobe Acrobat — How-to & AI prompts

AI prompts

1 way to ask · copy any one

DBecome — “help me grow”I keep scrambling to produce accessible files at the last minute. It’s embarrassing and blocks…+

I keep scrambling to produce accessible files at the last minute. It’s embarrassing and blocks audiences. Identify the habitual failures across my past conference and article files and prescribe one sustainable habit to make every output accessible from draft: what tool or template to standardize, how to train coauthors, and the one sentence to put in my project kickoff email that ensures accessibility isn’t optional.

when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed.

How to do it

the tool · the steps · what to avoid

1
Open the PDF document you want to check for accessibility.
2
Click the Tools tab at the top of the Acrobat window.
3
Scroll through the list and select Accessibility to add the Accessibility tools to your workspace if they are not already visible.
Best practiceIf you do not see the Accessibility tools, you may need to add them from the Tools pane as they are not shown by default.
4
In the Accessibility tools pane, click Full Check.
5
In the Accessibility Checker Options dialog, review the settings and click Start Checking.
Best practiceFor a thorough check, ensure all checkboxes are selected before starting the check.
6
Review the results displayed in the Accessibility Checker panel on the left side of the screen.

In the appWith the API

You can right-click in the Navigation Pane to show the Accessibility tags panel for more detailed tag inspection.

This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.

Glossary

words on this page

AccessibilityMaking sure everyone, including people with disabilities, can use something.ExampleThe website was designed with Accessibility in mind, so screen readers can easily navigate it.

Alt textA short description for images so people who cannot see them know what they show.ExampleA person using a screen reader hears 'a red bicycle leaning against a brick wall' when they encounter the image.

TaggingAdding labels to parts of a document so screen readers can understand it.ExampleTagging a document helps visually impaired users navigate its content with a screen reader.

Who does this

3 roles

Accessibility SpecialistInstructional DesignerDocument Remediator

FAQ

about this task

PDF/UA is a specific standard for PDF documents, making sure they are accessible. WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a broader set of rules for all web content, not just PDFs. Often, regulated work needs to meet both standards for full accessibility.

Go to 'All tools' > 'Prepare for accessibility'.
Select 'Reading Order tool'.
Visually check the numbered boxes to ensure text flows logically.
Drag and drop elements if needed to change their order.

It is much better to fix accessibility issues in the original document, like a Word file, before you save it as a PDF. If you fix the source, all new PDFs you make from that source will already be accessible. This saves a lot of time and effort compared to fixing an untagged PDF after it's already created, which can be very time-consuming.

Cloud-based auto-tagging means that Adobe's powerful Sensei AI technology, running on the internet (in the cloud), automatically adds tags to your PDF. It can identify headings, tables, lists, and paragraphs. This works for both native PDFs (made from digital files) and scanned PDFs (images of documents).

Yes, even scanned PDFs can be made accessible. Adobe's auto-tagging feature uses AI to recognize text and structure in scanned documents. It will add tags for headings, paragraphs, and other elements, which is the first step to making your scanned PDF usable by screen readers.

Systemic Public Accessibility

When to use it

AI prompts

How to do it

Glossary

The real tasks

Who does this

FAQ

Sources

Adobe help

Other guides