Using the Acrobat Pro Accessibility Checker

Adobe Acrobat Pro includes a built-in accessibility checker, often called Full Check or Check Accessibility. It is a useful tool for remediating a PDF directly, and it maps closely to the PDF/UA requirements.

How to run it

1. 1Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro.
2. 2Choose All tools > Prepare for accessibility.
3. 3Select "Check for accessibility" and run the Full Check with the default options.
4. 4The Accessibility Checker panel opens with the results grouped by category.

Reading the report

Each item is marked Passed, Failed, or Needs manual check. Right-click a failed item for options to Fix it, see an Explanation, or skip it. The "Needs manual check" items are the ones Acrobat cannot judge on its own — reading order and color contrast, for example.

Common failures and fixes

• Tagged PDF failed: auto-tag the document, then correct the tags.
• Figures alternate text failed: use Set Alternate Text to add alt text or mark decorative.
• Table headers failed: use the Table Editor to set TH cells and scope.
• Title failed: set a document title and configure it to display.
• Primary language failed: set the language in the document properties.

Acrobat checks the structure of one file at a time. It is a remediation tool, not a substitute for a manual screen reader review of the final document.

If you do not have Acrobat Pro, you can run a free accessibility check on this site to get the same kind of itemized report.