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Techniques for Accessible PDF

BETA release

Accessible PDF depends on developers and users sharing a common understanding of Tagged PDF.

In this resource, each PDF Technique page provides a minimal example demonstrating either a single technique or an example of a failure.

We provide some background information about these Techniques, including a quick introduction to logical structure, Tagged PDF and accessibility support. There's also a glossary of terms specific to accessible PDF. For all users, it's important to understand what these Techniques are and are not.

A Zip archive of all published Techniques is available from the GitHub repository.

Additional Techniques are anticipated on a quarterly schedule, with the next release scheduled for March 2025.

To provide feedback, request a new Technique or open an issue if you think a Technique needs improvement, please open an issue in the PDF Accessibility Liaison Working Group's GitHub repository.

Fundamentals

The "fundamental" techniques demonstrate the key principles underlying all accessible PDF documents.

Contributors

The following current and former members of the PDF Accessibility LWG made substantial contributions to the development of these Techniques.

Chrystal Carson, Bevi Chagnon, William Davidson, Michael Demey, Cherie Ekholm, Markus Erle (chair), Jochen Fehling (co-chair), Elizabeth Franklin, Dirk Frölich, Jochen Günther, Matthew Hardy, Linda Harris, Oliver Helfrich, Samuel Hofer, Avery Hymel, Duff Johnson (former chair), Mike Kadell, Shilpi Kapoor, William Kilian, Zak Kinsey, Pavol Kopicar, Marcel Krüger, Danila Lompa, Juliette McShane, Holly Mandia, Jonathan Metz, Frank Mittelbach, Ross Moore, Tim Nelms, Birgit Peböck (co-chair), Klaas Posselt, Charissa Ramirez, Paul Rayius, Iacobien Riezebosch, George Rothon, Chris Rowley, Julia Schauer, Peter Spraul, Mario Stummer, Roman Toda, Lucia Todova, Robin Watts, Peter Wyatt

Fundamental 1: Basic Technical Rules

Software that creates a PDF must follow basic technical rules for tagged PDF, so that other software can process the PDF for accessibility. Read more about Fundamental 1.

Pass

Failures

Fundamental 2: Text

Text content in PDF files must be machine-readable in order to allow assistive technology to present the document’s content as text. Read more about Fundamental 2.

Pass

Failures

Fundamental 3: Content

Accessible PDF files must clearly distinguish between real content, the information the author wants to convey to the reader, and artifacts (e.g., lines, page headers and footers). Read more about Fundamental 3.

Pass

Failures

Fundamental 4: Logical Content Order

The logical content order is determined by the order of the tags in the tag tree, and expresses the author’s intent for consumption of the content. Read more about Fundamental 4.

Pass

Failures

Fundamental 5: Appropriate Semantics

Appropriate tags allow software (including assistive technology) to distinguish between elements of real content (e.g., headings and paragraphs) to deliver information that would otherwise be conveyed purely via layout. Read more about Fundamental 5.

Pass

Failures

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