How to Fix PDF/UA Compliance Issues for Accessible PDF Documents
Question details
The user needs to resolve common PDF/UA compliance errors, such as unembedded fonts, missing metadata, and conflicting link tags, to ensure their PDF documents are fully accessible.
- Product
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Fixing structural and tagging issues in a PDF document to pass PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility) and WCAG compliance checks.
- Observed behavior
- PDF documents are failing accessibility checks due to incorrectly tagged artifacts, missing figure bounding boxes, unembedded fonts, missing document titles, and conflicting rules between different versions of the PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC).
Before making structural edits, ensure you have a PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC) installed to accurately identify which specific tags and metadata fields are causing compliance failures.
Resolve Common PDF/UA Compliance Errors Using Preflight
Address the standard accessibility errors by embedding fonts, correcting document structure, and applying proper metadata using professional PDF preflight tools.
Passing a PDF/UA compliance check requires strict adherence to structural and metadata rules. It is recommended to apply the PDF/UA identifier only after manually resolving all tagging and accessibility issues.
Use your PDF editor's Preflight tool to embed all unembedded fonts into the document, provided your font licensing permits it. This ensures text can be read correctly by screen readers.
Open the Tags panel to identify and fix incorrectly tagged artifacts. Repair broken figure tags and adjust bounding boxes around visual elements.
Manually add alternative text descriptions to all links, annotations, and meaningful images so assistive technologies can interpret them.
Go to the Document Properties, enter a descriptive title in the metadata, and set the Initial View settings to display the 'Document Title' instead of the file name.
Once all structural issues are fixed and validated, append the official PDF/UA identifier to the document's metadata to finalize compliance.
Fix Conflicting Link Tag Results Between PAC 1.3 and PAC 2
Use this specific tagging technique when PAC 2 (PDF/UA) requires alternative text for links but PAC 1.3 (WCAG 2.0) insists they must not have it.
Create Well-Structured Documents with WPS Office
WPS Office provides robust tools to create, manage, and convert structured documents. By starting with a properly formatted document in WPS Writer, you can export highly compatible PDFs that lay the groundwork for PDF/UA compliance and accessibility.
- 1. Structure Your Document: Open WPS Writer and apply built-in heading styles (H1, H2, H3) to organize your content logically, which is essential for accessible PDFs.
- 2. Add Image Alt Text: Right-click on any images or figures, select the picture properties, and provide clear alternative text for screen readers.
- 3. Export to PDF: Go to the 'Menu', choose 'Export to PDF', and ensure your structural formatting is preserved during the conversion process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do unembedded fonts cause PDF/UA compliance to fail?
Unembedded fonts prevent assistive technologies, such as screen readers, from accurately rendering and vocalizing the text. Embedding fonts ensures that all characters are mapped properly and read exactly as intended.
What is the PAC tool mentioned in PDF/UA testing?
PAC stands for PDF Accessibility Checker. It is a widely used evaluation tool that checks PDF documents against PDF/UA and WCAG standards to identify structural, tagging, and metadata errors.
How do I ensure my document title passes PDF/UA compliance?
To pass this check, you must add a descriptive title in the document's metadata properties and explicitly configure the PDF's 'Initial View' settings to display the Document Title rather than the file name.
