We have a batch of transcripts produced in-house and they're slated for the public catalogue. Diagnose whether the mis…
Open the PDF document you want to check in Adobe Acrobat Pro.
Go to the Tools tab at the top of the window.
Scroll through the available tools and select Accessibility to add it to your Tools pane if it is not already present.
Best practiceIf you do not see the Accessibility tool, you can add it from the Tools tab for easier future access.
In the right-hand pane, click Check Accessibility.
In the Accessibility Checker Options dialog, select the desired checking options or leave the defaults.
Click Start Checking to begin the accessibility check.
Review the results in the left-hand Accessibility Checker panel, which will display any detected accessibility issues.
Best practiceRight-clicking on an issue in the results panel provides options for fixing or learning more about the problem.
You can double-click any issue in the Accessibility Checker panel to jump directly to the problem area in your PDF.
This runs in the Acrobat app - there is no separate API for this task.
| Standard | Focus |
|---|---|
| WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) | Rules for making all web content accessible, no matter the technology. It is general. |
| PDF/UA (PDF - Universal Accessibility) | Specific rules only for PDF documents. It builds on WCAG but is just for PDFs. |
It is always best to fix accessibility problems in the original file, like a Word document, before you save it as a PDF. When you export an accessible Word file to PDF, many accessibility features transfer over. This saves a lot of time and effort compared to fixing an untagged PDF later, which can be very hard work.
Tagging a PDF means adding hidden structural information to the document. These 'tags' tell screen readers the order of content, like headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables. This is very important because without tags, a screen reader cannot understand the document's structure, making it impossible for visually impaired users to navigate or understand the content correctly.
Yes, Acrobat can help make scanned PDFs more accessible. The 'Automatically tag PDF' tool uses smart technology (Sensei-powered) to identify and tag elements like headings, tables, lists, and paragraphs, even in scanned documents. It also detects the language. However, you will still need to manually check and fix the reading order and add alt text for images, as automation is not perfect.