EN
Deutsch
Français
Español
ItalianoFree tool
PDF check: is your PDF accessible?
Upload a PDF and know in under a minute whether screen readers can handle it: tags, reading order, alt text, form fields, title and language, checked against the PDF/UA core criteria. With a report and fix instructions, free.
Step 1 of 3
33 %
Which PDF do we check?
We check tags, reading order, alt text, form fields, title, language and more. You can watch live.
- The check runs in an isolated environment, your document is only analyzed, never opened or executed.
- The file itself is discarded after the check, only the report stays retrievable for you.
- Takes under a minute, depending on the page count.
The check delivers an automated technical audit of the machine-testable PDF/UA criteria, not legal advice and not a complete conformity assessment. A manual review belongs to the full proof.
Why PDF accessibility matters right now
PDFs are the most overlooked chapter of digital accessibility. Yet they're covered by the same laws as websites.
Forms, invoices, contracts, manuals, brochures: a large share of the truly important information doesn't live on web pages but in PDF files. And that's exactly where people with disabilities fail most often. A PDF without tags reads to a screen reader like a book whose pages were shuffled loose. A scanned PDF is even worse: it contains no text at all, only photos of text.
Legally the situation is clearer than many think. For public bodies, EU Directive 2016/2102 has required accessible documents for years. For companies, the European Accessibility Act has applied since June 28, 2025, and it covers not just the website itself but also documents that are part of the service: the contract PDF in an online sign-up, the invoice in a shop, the bank's application form. The technical basis is the European standard EN 301 549, which has its own chapter for documents, and the international standard PDF/UA (ISO 14289).
The good news: PDF accessibility is measurable and doable. Most problems arise during export from Word, InDesign and the like and can be fixed there too, once you know where they hide. That's exactly what this check shows you: every automatically detectable problem, with page number, severity and instructions on how to get rid of it.
What the PDF check covers, point by point
The automatically testable core criteria from PDF/UA and the Matterhorn Protocol, translated into plain language:
Tag structure
The foundation: without tags, a screen reader knows neither headings nor paragraphs, lists or tables. We check whether the document is tagged and the structure is available to assistive technologies.
Text layer & scans
If a page consists only of images, it's invisible to screen readers and worthless for search. We reliably detect scanned pages and pages without real text.
Alternative text
Every informative figure needs a text alternative. We count all tagged images and report every graphic missing alt text, with page number.
Form fields
Fillable PDFs are a classic with authorities and companies. We check whether every field has a label (tooltip), without which screen readers only announce “input field”.
Document title
The title is the first thing read aloud. We check whether a title is set and whether the document displays it instead of the file name.
Document language
Without a language declaration, speech output reads German text with English intonation. We check whether the document's main language is cleanly declared.
Heading hierarchy
Screen reader users jump from heading to heading. We check whether headings are tagged and the levels build on each other without gaps.
Tables & header cells
Without tagged header cells, every data table becomes a number salad. We find tables whose cells can't be assigned to a column or row.
Bookmarks, tab order & more
On top come bookmarks for long documents, the tab order for keyboard users, font embedding, screen reader permissions and the PDF/UA identifier.
With a text layer or scanned: we check both correctly
Two fundamentally different starting points, two different paths to a solution. The check automatically detects which case you have.
PDFs with real text
Exported from Word, InDesign or another program. Here the audit goes deep: we read the complete tag structure, every figure, every table and every form field, check headings, title, language, bookmarks and font embedding. The result is a concrete task list, usually solvable directly in the source document.
Scanned PDFs without text
The check detects pages that consist only of images and calls the problem by its name: without a text layer, the document is invisible to screen readers, no matter how good the scan looks. Instead of a long error list that misses the point, you get the one path that actually helps: text recognition (OCR) plus tagging, with instructions.
How the PDF check works
No software download, no installation, no trial period. Upload, watch, read the report.
- 1
Upload the PDF
Choose a file or simply drag it into the browser, up to 20 MB. The check starts immediately, no sign-up.
- 2
Watch live
The analysis runs in an isolated environment and reports every step: structure, pages, images, forms. You watch live what's being checked.
- 3
See the result
Score, problems and severities at a glance, honest and without whitewashing. Critical items on top, minor ones below.
- 4
Get the report
The full report with every finding and a fix instruction per problem, free by email and retrievable anytime.
And what happens to my file?
The analysis runs in an isolated environment without internet access. Your PDF is examined purely structurally, embedded scripts are never executed. After the check, the file is discarded; only the report remains, with a preview of the first page so you can open it again later.
Six misconceptions about accessible PDFs
The most common misjudgments from practice, and what's true instead.
- 1
“But the PDF looks good”
Looks say nothing about accessibility. A perfectly designed PDF can be completely unreadable for screen readers: no tags, no reading order, no alternative text. Accessibility lives in the document structure, not the layout.
- 2
“We exported it from Word”
The Word export can produce accessible PDFs, but only if the source document is cleanly built: real heading styles, alt text on images, correct export settings. A click on “Save as PDF” alone rarely suffices.
- 3
“A scan with good contrast is enough”
A scanned document is a photo. It contains no text a screen reader could read aloud, a search could find or a user could enlarge. Without text recognition (OCR) and subsequent tagging, a scan remains a closed door.
- 4
“The law doesn't cover PDFs, only websites”
It does. EN 301 549 has its own chapter for documents, the public-sector rules explicitly include PDFs, and under the European Accessibility Act documents that are part of the service belong in scope: forms, contracts, invoices, manuals.
- 5
“The original is accessible, the rest doesn't matter”
What's published counts. If the accessible Word file stays internal and an inaccessible PDF sits online, the offering isn't accessible. What gets audited is what users actually download.
- 6
“Once accessible, always accessible”
Every new version of a form or brochure can reintroduce barriers, for example when a colleague saves without the export settings. Recurring documents belong in every publishing routine's checks.
Important note on validity
This check is an automated technical audit of the machine-testable PDF/UA core criteria. It does not constitute legal advice and doesn't certify complete PDF/UA or EN 301 549 conformity. Items like the content quality of alt text, the logic of the reading order and color contrast require a manual review.
Whether and to what extent legal obligations apply to your documents can only be determined bindingly by a legal review. accessibility-check.ai assumes no liability for the completeness, correctness or legal validity of the results.
Frequently asked questions about the PDF check
What does accessible PDF even mean?
An accessible PDF can be fully used by people with disabilities too: screen readers read it in the right order, images have text alternatives, forms are labeled, keyboard navigation works and title and language are set. The technical standard for this is PDF/UA (ISO 14289), built on the principles of the WCAG.
What is PDF/UA?
PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) is the international standard for accessible PDF documents, published as ISO 14289. It defines how tags, reading order, alternative text, metadata and forms have to be built so assistive technologies can output the document reliably. The corresponding test rules are described in the Matterhorn Protocol.
Which PDFs legally have to be accessible?
Public bodies generally have to offer all published documents accessibly under EU Directive 2016/2102. For companies, the European Accessibility Act has applied since June 28, 2025: documents that are part of a covered service, like contracts, invoices, forms or product manuals in e-commerce, banking or ticketing, belong to the service and must be accessible.
What does this PDF check concretely test?
The automatically testable PDF/UA core criteria: tag structure, text layer (scan detection), alternative text on figures, labeling of form fields, document title and language, heading hierarchy, table header cells, bookmarks, tab order, font embedding, screen reader permissions and the PDF/UA identifier.
Can an automated check certify PDF/UA conformity?
No, and whoever promises that isn't serious. An important share of the criteria is automatically testable, but whether an alt text is factually right, the reading order is logical and contrasts suffice can only be judged by a human. Our report clearly labels these items as requiring manual review.
What happens to my uploaded file?
The check runs in an isolated environment without internet access. Your PDF is only analyzed, never opened in the classical sense and never executed; embedded scripts are ignored on principle. After the analysis, the file is discarded. Only the report is stored, with a small preview of the first page so you can retrieve it.
My PDF is a scan. Now what?
The check detects that and tells you honestly: a scan without a text layer is the heaviest barrier of all. The path to a solution goes through text recognition (OCR), for example in Adobe Acrobat Pro, and subsequent tagging. Even better: find the original text document and export a clean PDF from it.
How do I make my PDF accessible?
The most economical path is through the source document: headings with real styles, alt text on images, tables with header rows, title and language in the document properties, then export with the accessibility options enabled. Existing PDFs can be tagged and corrected afterwards in Acrobat Pro; our report tells you where to start for each problem.
Does the check also handle very long documents?
Yes, up to 20 MB file size. For very long documents we check the first 200 pages in detail; the total page count and document properties like title, language and tags are always evaluated completely.
What does the PDF check cost?
Nothing. The check and the full report are free. You confirm your email address once, which creates a free account where your reports live. If you want to check documents and websites regularly, you can add monitoring later, but you don't have to.
One minute, and you know what ails your PDF
Free, no installation, with a real audit result and fix instructions instead of jargon.
Start the PDF check at the top