- 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
<div class="heading">Shipping Address</div>Why it matters
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
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
Tag the PDF (headings, lists, tables, reading order) or re-export from an accessible source.
<h2>Shipping Address</h2>A real heading element exposes the section structure to assistive tech; a styled div doesn't.
Outcome
On a photo-sharing app's upload screen, this barrier is gone for screen-reader, braille — they get the same result as anyone else here.
Who is affected
Screen-reader, braille, and reading-tool users who depend on coded structure rather than visual layout.
Learn more
- Understanding Understanding document (opens in a new tab)
Related scenarios
- Text Styled to Look Like a Heading Instead of Coded as One
- Text Columns Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Markup
- Table Layout Faked With Spaces Instead of Real Table Code
- Clickable Div Acting as a Link Button With No Real Role
- Structural HTML Tags Used Purely for Visual Styling
- Layout-Only Table Wrongly Coded With Real Header Cells