New Techniques for Accessible PDF
The PDF Association’s new Techniques for Accessible PDF provide authoritative answers to questions on how to make PDF files accessible consistent with both ISO 14289, the international standard for accessible PDF and W3C’s WCAG standard for accessible web content.
The new Techniques will advance accessibility of digital documents across the full spectrum of PDF use cases. We provide vendor-neutral information and example files, allowing PDF files to be precisely tested while ensuring software developers retain maximum flexibility and potential for innovation.
These Techniques improve upon WCAG’s Techniques for PDF in several ways. Instead of 23 Techniques, the PDF Accessibility LWG will produce hundreds of both “fundamental” and “use-case” Techniques over 2025 and into 2026. Instead of vendor-based information the PDF Association’s Techniques are vendor-neutral. Unlike WCAG’s Techniques – which only provide scraps of PDF code – the PDF Association’s Techniques include a functional PDF file. We’re also introducing the concept of a Technique Finder, to help end users locate tools that support these Techniques.
“Functionality” is not constrained by content
Accessibility considerations for digital content aren’t limited to navigation, reading and interaction. Users also need to be able to archive, comment, redact, extract, and more.
