# Making accessible PDFs: a practical checklist

> A PDF that looks fine can be unusable for someone with a screen reader. Most of the fixes happen in the software you write in, before the PDF exists.

Screen readers read a PDF through its structure, not its appearance. If the file has no structure, a blind reader may hear the page as a jumble, hear nothing at all, or have to listen to every header and footer on every page. Accessibility isn't a niche concern either: in the EU, the European Accessibility Act has applied since June 2025 to many products and services, and public bodies in many countries already have rules for documents they publish.

## The checklist

1. **Real text, not images of text.** Scanned pages are pictures. Without OCR, a screen reader has nothing to read. A quick test: try to select a word. If you can't, run the file through [OCR PDF](https://pdfjade.com/ocr-pdf).
2. **Tags.** A tagged PDF contains a hidden structure tree that says "this is a heading, this is a paragraph, this is a list". Export from Word, Google Docs or InDesign with "tagged PDF" or "accessibility" enabled; printing to PDF usually drops tags.
3. **Real headings.** Use the heading styles in your editor (Heading 1, Heading 2) rather than bold, larger text. Headings become navigation points.
4. **Reading order.** Columns, sidebars and text boxes should be read in a sensible order. Check it in an accessibility checker.
5. **Alternative text for images.** Every meaningful image needs a short description. Decorative images should be marked as decorative so they're skipped.
6. **A document title.** Set the title in the file's properties and ask the viewer to display it instead of the file name. You can check and set the title with [Edit metadata](https://pdfjade.com/edit-pdf-metadata).
7. **The document language.** So screen readers use the right pronunciation.
8. **Tables with header rows.** Mark the header row as headers, avoid merged cells where you can, and don't use tables for layout.
9. **Meaningful links.** "Download the 2026 price list" rather than "click here".
10. **Contrast and colour.** Text should stand out from the background, and information shouldn't rely on colour alone, for example red and green in a chart.

## Tools that remove accessibility

Many PDF operations, including some of ours such as converting to black and white or flattening, redraw content in a way that can lose tags. Treat accessibility as part of the final export: merge, reorder and annotate first, then produce the accessible version from the source.

## Checking

Adobe Acrobat's accessibility checker and the free PAC checker from the PDF/UA community are the usual tools. And nothing replaces trying it: turn on the screen reader built into your computer or phone and listen to the first page.

Source: https://pdfjade.com/guides/accessible-pdf-checklist