PDF Accessibility Checker

Free · Online · Reads PDF 2.0 and PDF/UA-2 · No signup

Check any PDF for accessibility online, free. Upload a compiled PDF (thesis, article, course handout) and see whether it is actually tagged, whether figures carry alt text, whether math is navigable, and what to fix first for WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA. Honest by design: we tell you what a machine cannot determine instead of guessing.

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Best for: a compiled .pdf (thesis, article, handout). LaTeX source (.tex, .cls, .zip) works here too.

What this PDF accessibility checker looks at

Is the PDF tagged? Whether the file carries a real tag tree of headings, lists, tables, and figures. An untagged PDF reads as one unstructured wall of text to a screen reader, no matter how it looks on screen.
Critical
Alt text, language & title Whether figures carry alternative text, whether a document language is set, and whether the PDF declares (and shows) a real title: the metadata assistive technology relies on.
Per image
Reading order & structure Whether headings follow a sensible level order and whether tables expose header cells, so the document can be navigated rather than read start to finish.
Structure
Math readability When equations are present, whether they are exposed as MathML (navigable, readable by NVDA and JAWS) rather than flattened to an image with no alternative.
STEM
Upload a compiled .pdf (LaTeX source works here too). Your file is analysed and discarded immediately; only the report is kept, briefly.

The rules: WCAG 2.1 AA, PDF/UA, and ADA compliance

PDF/UA (ISO 14289) The PDF-specific accessibility standard: a tagged structure tree, logical reading order, alt text, a declared language, and, for PDF/UA-2, MathML math.
Tagged PDF
WCAG 2.1 Level AA The technical standard for accessible documents and web content. For a PDF it means tagged structure, reading order, alt text, a declared language, sufficient contrast, and navigable math.
The standard
ADA Title II The US Department of Justice's 2024 rule adopts WCAG 2.1 AA for state and local government entities, including public universities. Larger entities comply by April 2026, smaller ones by April 2027.
Apr 2026 / 2027
This tool checks a PDF against these standards. It does not determine your legal obligations, and private institutions may be covered through other rules such as Section 504.

What still needs a human

Alt-text quality Software can confirm that alt text exists, but not whether it actually describes the image usefully. A person has to read it.
Human
Reading order & screen-reader test Whether the PDF reads in a sensible order, and how it actually sounds, can only be confirmed by testing with a real screen reader (NVDA, JAWS, or VoiceOver).
Human
This is why the report is an automated readiness assessment, not a certification: it flags what software can verify and is honest about what it cannot.

Acrobat, PAC, or an online PDF accessibility checker?

Different checkers answer different questions. Here is the honest comparison, including when not to use this one.

Adobe Acrobat Pro

Acrobat Pro includes an accessibility check and, importantly, the tools to fix a PDF by hand: add tags, set alt text, correct reading order. The trade-offs: it needs a paid license, and its checker verifies that tags exist, not that they make sense, so a document can pass in Acrobat and still read as gibberish. Use it when you must repair a PDF whose source you do not have.

PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker)

PAC, from the PDF/UA Foundation, is the reference tool for formal PDF/UA validation and it is free. Its limits are practical: it is a Windows-only desktop application, and it validates the standard rather than explaining what to change in your workflow. If you need a formal conformance result to put in a compliance file, PAC is the right tool.

This checker

Free, in the browser, on any operating system, no install and no signup. It triages a PDF in seconds: tagged or not, title, language, alt text, table headers, bookmarks, math. It is built by LaTeX specialists, so when the PDF came from LaTeX it can also tell you where in your workflow the problem starts. What it is not: a certification. It says so on every report, and marks what it cannot determine instead of guessing.

What to do when your PDF fails

Fix the source, not the PDF, whenever you can: re-tagging a finished PDF by hand in Acrobat is slow, fragile work that has to be redone on every revision, while fixing the source produces an accessible PDF on every future compile. If your PDF came from LaTeX, run the source through the LaTeX accessibility checker to see exactly what to change. If the source is gone, hand-tagging or a remediation service is the remaining path.

We'll Fix Your PDF to be WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA Compliant

We fix PDF accessibility and make sure it is compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA. Including PDF tagging, reading order, alt text, MathML, bookmarks, and semantic document structure

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