• Success Criterion 1.3.1
  • Conformance level A

PDF Document Published With No Accessibility Tags at All

1.3.1 — Info and Relationships

Scenario

Setting

A photo-sharing app's upload screen

What’s wrong

PDF: untagged documents, wrongly tagged headings/tables/lists, reading structure absent.

Example 

<a href="photo-release-form.pdf">Download Photo Release Form (PDF)</a>
<!-- PDF exported from a design tool with no tags, headings, or reading order -->

Why it matters

A screen reader user opening the release form hears nothing, or hears content in random order. The PDF carries no tag structure at all.

How to test

Run the PDF through Adobe Acrobat's Accessibility Checker or the built-in Tags panel: untagged documents, or wrong heading/table/list tags, fail.

How to fix

Export PDFs with tagging turned on, then check the reading order matches the visual layout before publishing.

<a href="photo-release-form.pdf">Download Photo Release Form (PDF, tagged and accessible)</a>
<!-- Export the PDF with tags: headings, paragraphs, and a defined reading order -->

Outcome

A user opens the release form and hears it read in the same order a sighted person reads it.

Who is affected

Screen reader users who need to review the consent form before uploading photos can't read it at all.

Learn more

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