How to Fix Common PDF Accessibility Issues
Practical, standards-based guides for the problems our checker finds most often. Each one explains what the issue is, why it matters, and exactly how to fix it for PDF/UA and WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
Page Content
- CriticalHow to Tag a PDF for AccessibilityAn untagged PDF is invisible to screen readers. Learn what PDF tags are, why they matter, and how to add them in Acrobat Pro or with automated tools.
- HighHow to Fix the Reading Order in a PDFIf a screen reader reads your PDF out of sequence, the reading order is wrong. Learn how to correct reading order using the Tags panel and Reading Order tool.
- MediumHow to Fix Color Contrast in a PDFLow-contrast text fails WCAG 2.1 AA and is hard to read for many users. Learn the contrast ratios you need and how to fix contrast in a PDF.
- CriticalHow to Fix a Scanned (Image-Only) PDFA scanned PDF is just a picture of a page with no real text. Learn how to OCR and tag an image-only PDF so it becomes accessible.
- LowHow to Mark Decorative Content as Artifacts in a PDFBackgrounds, page numbers, and repeating headers should be artifacts so screen readers skip them. Learn how to mark decorative content in a PDF.
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- MediumHow to Set the Document Title in a PDFPDFs should display a real title, not the filename, in the window/tab. Learn how to set the document title and the "display title" flag in Acrobat Pro.
- MediumHow to Set the Language of a PDFWithout a specified language, screen readers may pronounce a PDF with the wrong accent or voice. Learn how to set the primary language in Acrobat Pro.