PDF Accessibility & PDF Remediation Services

PDF remediation is the process of modifying a PDF so it becomes accessible to people using assistive technologies. It can include tags, reading order, headings, alt text, tables, forms, links, bookmarks, and metadata.

PDF/UA is ISO 14289, the international standard for accessible PDF documents. It focuses on document structure, tags, semantics, and accessibility behavior. For WCAG, W3C publishes PDF techniques that show how success criteria apply to PDF files (see W3C’s WCAG overview).

Yes, we can assess scanned PDFs and OCR quality. Some scanned documents can be remediated, while others may require source recreation for the best accessibility result.

Yes. We remediate PDF form fields, labels, tab order, tooltips, instructions, grouping, and keyboard accessibility.

We aim to preserve visual integrity while improving accessibility. Some source or layout issues may require recommendations if the visual design conflicts with accessibility requirements.

It depends on page count, tables, forms, scanned pages, source file quality and the validation level you need. A short tagged report can be turned around quickly, while a library of hundreds of files is usually phased by priority. We confirm the timeline in your quote, so send us a sample with your deadline.

Yes. Annual reports, ESG reports, investor reports, and corporate reports are common PDF remediation projects.

Yes. We remediate government forms, policies, notices, regulations, public-facing documents, and healthcare consent forms, lab reports and discharge instructions. For U.S. federal agencies and their contractors, Section 508 covers electronic documents as well as websites, and Section508.gov has guidance on creating accessible PDFs. See our government and public sector accessibility page and our healthcare accessibility services for patient-portal and medical PDF workflows.

Yes. We remediate statements, invoices, prospectuses, disclosures, tax documents, and financial reports. See how we handle financial PDF accessibility together with online banking and fintech audits.

Yes. We support batch remediation for archives, document libraries, portals, disclosures, and large collections of PDFs.

We test remediated PDFs with the NVDA screen reader, together with keyboard navigation checks, to confirm that reading order, headings, tables, links and form fields are announced correctly.

We can use PAC validation where appropriate, alongside Adobe Acrobat accessibility tools and manual review.

Yes. We remediate PDFs exported from InDesign and, when you share the InDesign file, we fix the source too: paragraph styles mapped to export tags, reading order set in the Articles panel, images anchored in the text flow with alternative text, and the document title and language in the file metadata. Adobe’s own accessible PDF guidance for InDesign recommends building this structure into the source document, so each new export needs less clean-up.

Yes. We can remediate PDFs exported from Word and recommend source document improvements to reduce future remediation work.

Yes. We can remediate PDFs exported from PowerPoint and advise on accessible source slide structure.

We fix tags, reading order, headings, tables, lists, links, forms, alt text, bookmarks, metadata, artifacts, and screen reader compatibility issues.

Yes. We remediate table headers, relationships, merged cells, scope, complex tables, and reading order where the PDF structure allows it.

Yes. We add and improve alternative text for images, charts, graphs, icons, logos, figures, and meaningful visual content.

Yes. We add or repair bookmarks for long reports, manuals, policy documents, and multi-section PDFs.

Yes. Correcting reading order is a core part of PDF remediation, especially in multi-column layouts and complex reports.

Most remediation is structural and does not visibly change the document. If visible changes are needed for contrast or readability, we discuss options first.

Yes. We can provide an accessibility validation summary and optional accessibility report depending on the project scope.

Yes. We can recommend accessible Word, PowerPoint, InDesign, and export workflows so future documents require less remediation. If your team wants to build accessible PDFs in-house, our complete guide to WCAG-compliant PDFs walks through the process step by step.

We can support urgent projects depending on document complexity, volume, and current availability.

Send the PDF files, source files if available, target standards, deadline, and any validation requirements. We will review complexity and recommend a scope.

PDF remediation is quoted per project, because cost depends on page count, tables, forms, scanned pages and whether you have the source files. Send a sample through our free needs assessment and we reply with a fixed quote. PDF remediation can also be added to a $500 Quick Audit or a $2,000 Complete Audit (see pricing), and if you are not sure about scope yet, start with a free 30-minute call. The $100 technical hour suits teams that want a working session to plan a large document library.

Usually, yes, but far less. Good InDesign set-up (styles mapped to tags, an Articles panel reading order, alt text and anchored images) gives you a tagged PDF with the right structure. Complex tables, form fields, artifacts, link text and layered layouts still need checking and fixing in Acrobat afterwards, then testing with PAC and NVDA. We do both steps: fix the InDesign file, then remediate and test the exported PDF.

Yes, for state and local governments. The DOJ rule covers web content, including PDFs and other conventional electronic documents, and requires WCAG 2.1 AA by April 26, 2027 for entities serving 50,000 or more people and April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special districts (ADA.gov fact sheet). Archived content and preexisting documents are excepted only when nobody still needs them to apply for or use a service. See our government accessibility services.

Yes. The Revised Section 508 Standards (E205.4) apply WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA to public-facing electronic content, including PDFs, and to official agency communications such as forms, templates, notices and training materials (U.S. Access Board). Federal contractors are often asked for 508-conformant documents in procurement. Our ADA and Section 508 audit can include documents.

PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) is the accessible PDF standard for PDF 1.x files, which is what most organizations publish today. PDF/UA-2 (ISO 14289-2:2024, published in March 2024) is the version for PDF 2.0 files. It does not replace PDF/UA-1. We confirm which one your contract or procurement asks for before we start.

No. The Matterhorn Protocol lists 136 PDF/UA failure conditions, and 47 of them need human judgment, such as whether alternative text is accurate, whether the reading order makes sense and whether headings describe their sections. We use PAC and the Acrobat checker first, then read every file with the NVDA screen reader and a keyboard.

Yes. Agencies can resell our PDF remediation under their own brand through the white label partner program. See our digital agencies specialty for how delivery works.

Yes. A $500 Quick Audit or a $2,000 Complete Audit covers your website, and PDFs, Word and PowerPoint files are tested separately as an add-on, so we scope both in one quote. Our document accessibility testing guide explains what we check in each file.

Start with the free 30-minute call if you are still working out scope: how many PDFs you have, which standard applies, or whether to fix the source files first. It is a first conversation that ends with a clear next step and a quote. Book the $100 one-hour technical consultation when you already have PDFs or audit findings and want a hands-on working session, for example reviewing PAC results, walking your designer through InDesign or Word export settings, or checking a form with a screen reader together.

You receive the remediated files with a validation summary and notes on anything that needs a source change, plus guidance so new Word, PowerPoint or InDesign exports stay accessible. If the PDFs live on your website, the pages around them matter too. AccessibilityScore.in, our free tool, runs a WCAG scan of one public page with axe-core as a starting point, and a $500 Quick Audit adds the manual keyboard and screen reader testing an automated scan cannot cover.