Accessible PDF
This page gathers content regarding PDF accessibility from across pdfa.org.
- ISO standards for accessible PDF
- Industry specifications on accessibility
- Other PDF industry publications related to accessibility
- Member communities related to accessibility
- Articles on accessibility
- PDF Days presentations on accessibility
- Members' products & services supporting PDF/UA
ISO standards for accessible PDF
The PDF Association is ISO's and ANSI's committee manager for ISO TC 171 SC 2, publisher of all ISO standards for PDF technology with the exception of ISO 15930 (PDF/X), which is developed under the auspices of ISO TC 130.
ISO 14289-2:2024 (PDF/UA-2) defines the use of tagged PDF in files conforming to ISO 32000-2:2020 … Read more
ISO/TS 32005 extends ISO 32000-2 to clarify inclusion rules for using tags defined in the … Read more
ISO 14289-1:2014 (PDF/UA-1) defines the use of tagged PDF in files conforming to ISO 32000-1:2008 … Read more
Industry specifications on accessibility
These formal industry publications define the interoperable use of PDF technology for accessibility purposes. All are freely available. Some are also published as ISO standards.
Other PDF industry publications related to accessibility
In keeping with the spirit of the original PDF Reference, all PDF Association publications are freely available.
Comprehensive requirements for software that seeks to create fully reusable and accessible PDF 2.0 files … Read more
Explanations of technical terms related to accessibility as used in the PDF and PDF/UA standards.
The Matterhorn Protocol, a free publication, identifies all possible ways to fail PDF/UA-1.
The PDF/UA Reference Suite is a resource for software developers and practitioners interested in best-practices … Read more
The Tagged PDF Best Practice Guide includes guidance for all structure element types and attributes, … Read more
Member communities related to accessibility
The PDF Association's volunteer communities represent the organization's true purpose and most important feature. Their primary purpose is to develop and obtain consensus on PDF specifications, test-suites, technical and application notes, best practices and other formal industry guidance. Many of these products are eventually submitted for ISO standardization via ISO TC 171 SC 2.
Accessibility is the direct or indirect focus of the following communities:
Developing techniques and examples for accessible PDF.
Supporting generation of tagged PDF directly from LaTeX.
Formalizing common understandings on processing tagged PDF.
Accessible PDF, including oversight of ISO 14289.
Exploring pathways to expressing PDF content in HTML.
Articles on accessibility
PDF Association members can post non-commercial educational content on pdfa.org.
October 2023 by PDF Association staff
5 years ago the PDF Accessibility LWG began a project to develop a set of accessibility techniques for PDF files. … Read more
July 2022 by PDF Association staff
The new PDF/UA Processor LWG will work to formalize common understandings on processing PDF/UA-conforming PDF files.
April 2021 by PDF Association staff
The document promotes adoption of the ISO standard for accessible PDF by software developers, service bureaus and others interested in … Read more
PDF Days presentations on accessibility
These educational presentations were presented at PDF Days events by a wide range of industry experts. Since 2022 PDF Days has been replaced with PDF Week, a technical conference meeting three times a year.
ISO 32005 is a new Technical Standard from WG9 (for which I am the ISO Project Leader) aimed at aligning and unifying the capabilities of the PDF 1.7 and PDF … Read more
Mit den Bordmitteln von Microsoft Office oder LibreOffice ist die Erstellung von vollständig barrierefreie PDF-Dokumente nach WCAG oder PDF/UA nach wie vor nicht möglich. Mit jeder neuen Programmversion gibt es … Read more
In Summer 2020 the LaTeX Project Team announced the start of a multi-year project [1, 2] to produce tagged and accessible PDF from existing LaTeX sources with no or only … Read more
Was hat sich seit den letzten PDF Days beim PDF-Export mit Bordmitteln von Microsoft Office oder LibreOffice getan? Die Erstellung von vollständig barrierefreien PDF-Dokumente nach PDF/UA-Standard ist nach wie vor … Read more
At the moment WCAG validation is a legal requirement, while PDF/UA is not (unfortunately). In this talk we make an attempt to perform a gap analysis between these standards, taking PDF/UA-1 … Read more
With mobile claiming more than 50% of total internet usage for the past 5 years, the way we interact and manipulate content must continue to adapt. For all a lot … Read more
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Members' products & services supporting PDF/UA
PDF Association members are entitled to post their products and services in the product showcase. The members' posting the products listed below are claiming that the product supports PDF/UA-1. The PDF Association is not responsible for members' representation of their products or services.
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