The board secretary asked for an accessible version of the audit report and wants it by [deadline=Monday]. I know tagg…
Open the PDF document you want to check for accessibility.
Click the Tools tab at the top of the Acrobat window.
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.
In the Accessibility tools pane, click Full Check.
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.
Review the results displayed in the Accessibility Checker panel on the left side of the screen.
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.
| Feature | PDF/UA | WCAG |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Specific to PDF documents | General web content, technology-agnostic |
| Purpose | Ensures technical accessibility of PDF structure | Provides guidelines for making content accessible to all users |
| Use Case | Often required for legal or regulatory compliance in PDFs | Broad standard for digital accessibility across various platforms |
Fixing accessibility in the source document, such as a Word file, saves a lot of time and effort. When you export an accessible Word document to PDF, many accessibility features like tags, headings, and alt text are carried over automatically. This means less work in Acrobat to fix problems later, making the process much more efficient.
Yes, even scanned PDFs can be auto-tagged for accessibility. The auto-tagging feature uses smart technology to identify text, headings, tables, and lists in both native and scanned PDFs. However, after auto-tagging a scanned document, it's especially important to manually check the reading order and add accurate alt text, as scans can sometimes be less accurate.
The 'Accessibility Checker' in Acrobat Pro is a tool that scans your PDF document for common accessibility issues. It helps you find problems like missing alt text, incorrect heading structures, or issues with reading order. After it runs, it gives you a report of flagged items so you can fix them and make your PDF more accessible.