Every answer below states the figure, limit, or date directly rather than pointing elsewhere for it. Where a number can change, it is read from the same plan configuration the application enforces, so this page and the product cannot disagree. Anything automated checking cannot establish is said plainly instead of implied.
Jump to a topic
- Pricing and cost
- Output formats
- Creating accessible PDFs
- Standards and compliance
- Deadlines
- Free tools
- Working with vendors
Pricing and cost
How much does PDF accessibility remediation cost?
DocAccessible charges $5 USD per accepted source page for manual PDF remediation, and the rate is flat regardless of how complex a page is. The agency team takes bulk projects above 500 pages, so the smallest eligible project is 501 pages at $2,505 before applicable tax. Automated remediation is priced separately as a monthly software subscription rather than per page.
How much does DocAccessible cost per month?
DocAccessible software plans are Free at $0, Exchange at $19 per month, Pro at $29 per month, Team at $49 per month, and Organization at $199 per month. Each paid plan raises the monthly document allowance, upload size, seat count, active Exchange cases, and website PDF monitoring limits. Subscriptions run month to month and can be cancelled from the billing portal at any time.
Do you charge per page or per document?
The two paths are priced differently. Software plans are billed per month with a document allowance, so a 90-page report and a two-page memo each count as one document. Manual agency remediation is billed per source page at $5 USD, with no complexity multiplier.
What if my PDF project is 500 pages or fewer?
The DocAccessible agency team focuses on bulk projects above 500 pages, so smaller jobs are not accepted at the per-page rate. For a smaller project, use the software plans to generate and review accessible output yourself, or use Exchange to coordinate an independent remediation vendor through the same workflow.
Is there a free plan, and is a credit card required?
Yes, there is a Free plan and no card is required. It covers three documents per month, files up to 10 MB, automated checks, hosted accessible HTML, a rebuilt tagged PDF, public and unlisted share links, and monitoring of one website with up to 20 PDFs.
What happens when I reach my monthly document limit?
New uploads pause until the next monthly reset or until the plan is upgraded. Existing documents, hosted pages, downloads, and edits stay available, and no automatic overage charges are applied.
Output formats
What is the difference between hosted accessible HTML and a tagged PDF?
Hosted HTML is responsive, fast to publish, easy to edit, and generally gives assistive technology a more reliable reading experience. The automated tagged PDF rebuilds the same content for offline use and may change the original layout or pagination. Keeping the exact source-PDF appearance is a separate manual remediation path.
Will remediation preserve my PDF's exact layout?
Only the manual path is designed to. Automated rebuilding can reflow a document, so pagination and visual placement may change. Manual exact-layout remediation repairs the accessibility structure without intentionally rebuilding the design, although a defect in the source file can still require a discussed visual adjustment.
Can a scanned PDF be tagged automatically?
No. A scanned page is an image with no text layer, so automatic tagging has no structure to work with. DocAccessible detects scanned and OCR-derived pages and routes them to reviewed OCR text recovery or to specialist remediation instead of producing a tag structure that would be wrong.
Can my team edit the remediated result?
Yes. The browser editor adjusts headings, alternative text, reading order, captions, and table structure. Saving runs the accessibility checks again, so the change in findings is visible immediately, and every saved version is retained as release evidence.
Creating accessible PDFs
Does Google Docs export a tagged, accessible PDF?
Yes. Google announced on December 6, 2024 that PDFs downloaded from Google Docs include structural and accessibility tags for paragraphs, headings, hyperlinks, image alt text, and lists, with rollout complete by mid-January 2025 for Workspace and personal accounts, and added tags for tables, equations, and checkboxes in March 2025. The export tags only what the document declares, so headings must use heading styles and images need alt text, and the result should be checked with a tag viewer and checker.
Why does printing to PDF remove accessibility tags?
A PDF printer receives drawing instructions for each page and has no concept of headings, lists, tables, or image descriptions, so the file it writes has no tag structure at all. In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on Windows, use File, Save As, PDF, Options with "Document structure tags for accessibility" selected; on macOS use the "Best for electronic distribution and accessibility" export. Microsoft Print to PDF and third-party PDF printers should not be used for documents that must be accessible.
Can Canva export an accessible PDF?
Canva embeds accessibility tags when a design is downloaded as PDF Standard with the Flatten PDF checkbox unchecked; Canva states that flattening removes the tags. Heading levels follow the text styles (Title is H1, Subtitle H2, and so on), alt text and a screen reader language can be set, and reading order is calculated from position or matched to layer order. Canva documents that browser PDF viewers and macOS Preview may skip content, and recommends checking exported files in Adobe Acrobat.
Can LaTeX produce an accessible tagged PDF?
Yes, on a current LaTeX release. Placing \DocumentMetadata{tagging=on} before \documentclass and compiling with LuaLaTeX produces tagged output; pdfstandard=ua-2 targets PDF/UA-2, lang sets the language, and alt= on \includegraphics adds image descriptions. The LaTeX Project recommends LuaLaTeX and a release of 2025-11-01 or later, tracks support per package on its tagging status pages, and provides MathML-based tagged math through tagging-setup.
Does Chrome or Puppeteer generate tagged PDFs?
Chrome has generated a tagged PDF from the print dialog's Save as PDF option since Chrome 85 in August 2020, carrying headings, lists, tables, paragraphs, and image descriptions from the page. Puppeteer's page.pdf() exposes a tagged option that defaults to true and an outline option for bookmarks that defaults to false. The tags mirror the HTML's semantics, so the page needs real headings, alt attributes, table headers, lang, and a title, and the output should be validated with a PDF/UA checker.
Which applications export tagged PDFs?
Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (through Save As with the structure tags option, or the accessibility export on macOS), Google Docs (since December 2024), Apple Pages, Numbers, and Keynote (since version 8.2 in 2019), Canva (PDF Standard, not flattened), Adobe InDesign (with Create Tagged PDF), LaTeX (with tagging enabled), and Chrome (since version 85). Print-to-PDF drivers and scanners write no tags. A tagged export still needs headings, alt text, table headers, a title, and a language in the source.
Standards and compliance
What accessibility standards does DocAccessible check against?
Every document receives automated checks mapped to WCAG 2.2 Level AA, covering structure, images, headings, tables, landmarks, language, and link text. The generated PDF is aligned to PDF/UA. Layout-critical or high-stakes documents still require manual validation.
Does automated remediation certify WCAG, PDF/UA, or ADA compliance?
No. Automated checking, scores, and generated output assist accessibility work but do not certify conformance, and no provider or automated checker should promise a universal legal guarantee. Reading order, complex tables, charts, forms, and contextual alternative text can require qualified human review with representative assistive technology.
What is the difference between PDF/UA and WCAG?
PDF/UA is a machine-checkable specification for the technical structure of a PDF file, so a checker can verify it deterministically. WCAG is an outcome-oriented standard about whether a person can actually perceive, operate, and understand the content. A file can pass PDF/UA validation and still fail WCAG, which is why the two complement rather than replace one another.
What is PDF/UA-2?
PDF/UA-2 is ISO 14289-2, published in 2024, the accessibility standard for PDF files based on PDF 2.0. It was built from the PDF Association's free WTPDF specification and adds comprehensive rules for structure element attributes and annotations, PDF 2.0 structure types, MathML for mathematics, structure destinations for internal links, and Associated Files. PDF/UA-1 remains the standard for PDF 1.7 files and is not replaced; no major accessibility regulation names PDF/UA-2 as a legal requirement.
What is the Matterhorn Protocol?
The Matterhorn Protocol is the PDF Association's conformance testing model for PDF/UA-1. Version 1.1, released April 22, 2021, defines 31 checkpoints containing 136 failure conditions, each tied to a clause of ISO 14289-1. 87 of the conditions can be determined by software, 47 usually require human judgement, and 2 have no specific test. Checkers such as PAC report against these numbered conditions, which is why a clean automated report still leaves the human-judgement checks open.
Is a PDF/A file accessible?
Not necessarily. PDF/A (ISO 19005) is an archival standard for long-term preservation. Its level a variants (PDF/A-1a, 2a, 3a) require tags and Unicode text but only their presence, not their correctness, and PDF/A-4 makes tags optional. Accessibility is the job of PDF/UA (ISO 14289), which requires semantically correct structure, alternatives, language, title, and security settings that allow assistive technology. One file can conform to both, for example PDF/A-2a together with PDF/UA-1.
Does a PDF need bookmarks to be accessible?
Adobe Acrobat's accessibility checker fails a document of 21 or more pages that has no bookmarks paralleling its structure, and WCAG technique PDF2 recommends bookmarks for navigation. PDF/UA-1 has no bookmark rule: the Matterhorn Protocol's navigation checkpoint states that no specific test is required. Bookmarks remain good practice for any long document and can be generated from headings in Word's Save As options, in Acrobat, and through Puppeteer's outline option.
What is a VPAT and how is it different from an ACR?
A VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) is the blank template published by the Information Technology Industry Council; a VPAT completed for a specific product version is an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR). The current template is VPAT 2.5Rev (April 2025) in four editions: 508, EU (EN 301 549), WCAG (2.0, 2.1, and 2.2), and INT. Each criterion is rated Supports, Partially Supports, Does Not Support, or Not Applicable with remarks. ITI does not review or certify completed reports.
Are old PDFs exempt from the ADA Title II web rule?
Only if they were available before the public entity's compliance date and are not currently used to apply for, gain access to, or participate in the entity's services, programs, or activities (28 CFR 35.201(b)). Any form, application, or instruction still in use is in scope regardless of age. Content kept purely for reference in a clearly identified archive area and unchanged since archiving is separately excepted, and the DOJ states that labelling content archived does not create the exception.
Which PDF viewer should I use to test with a screen reader?
Adobe Acrobat Reader on Windows with NVDA or JAWS is the reference environment for tagged PDF semantics, and Firefox is a strong second because its viewer has exposed tagged PDF structure since Firefox 89 in July 2021. PowerMapper's December 2025 tests scored NVDA with Firefox at 88% and JAWS with Firefox at 75% on tagged PDF features, against 25% for either screen reader with Chrome or Edge, whose shared viewer does not expose the same headings and table headers.
Deadlines
When is the ADA Title II web accessibility deadline?
State and local government entities with a population of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027. Public entities with a population under 50,000, and special district governments, have until April 26, 2028. The substantive technical requirement is WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and it applies to public-facing documents such as PDFs, not only to web pages.
When is the HHS Section 504 web accessibility deadline for health providers?
May 11, 2027 for recipients of HHS financial assistance with fifteen or more employees, and May 10, 2028 for recipients with fewer than fifteen. HHS extended both dates by one year through an interim final rule effective May 7, 2026; they were originally May 11, 2026 and May 10, 2027. The technical standard is WCAG 2.1 Level AA for web content and mobile apps, including PDFs and other documents, and the rule's provisions mirror the ADA Title II web rule.
When must Canadian federal organizations make documents accessible?
Under the Regulations Amending the Accessible Canada Regulations registered December 5, 2025, the federal public sector must ensure new or updated web pages conform to CAN/ASC-EN 301 549:2024 from December 5, 2027, and new or updated non-web documents and mobile applications from December 5, 2028. Federally regulated businesses with 500 or more employees have December 5, 2028 for web pages, apps, and documents; those with 100 to 499 employees have that date for web pages only; smaller businesses are exempt.
What does the European Accessibility Act require for documents?
The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) has applied since June 28, 2025 to listed products and services including e-readers, e-books, consumer banking, and e-commerce. Its requirements are functional and set out in Annex I; it excludes office file formats published before June 28, 2025 from its website content requirements and exempts microenterprises providing services. EN 301 549, whose clause 10 applies WCAG-derived requirements to downloadable documents, is being revised to serve as the harmonised standard under the Act.
Do UK public sector PDFs published before September 2018 have to be accessible?
Not unless users need them to use a service. GOV.UK lists PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018 among the content exempt from the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018, except documents needed to use a service, such as a form. Documents published or updated since that date, or still needed for a service, must meet WCAG 2.2 AA, which the Government Digital Service has monitored against since October 2024.
What is the deadline for Colorado HB21-1110?
Colorado state and local government entities had to adopt an accessibility plan by July 1, 2022 and fully comply with the Office of Information Technology's accessibility standards, which set WCAG 2.1 Level AA, by July 1, 2024. HB24-1454 extended immunity from liability to July 1, 2025 for entities demonstrating good-faith efforts. That grace period has ended, and the statute provides a $3,500 statutory fine payable to each plaintiff for each violation. OIT states the law covers documents as well as websites and software.
Free tools
Is there a free PDF accessibility checker?
Yes. DocAccessible publishes six free browser tools with no account required: a website PDF scanner, a PDF-to-HTML converter, an accessibility checker, a tag viewer, an auto-tagger, and a scanned-PDF text recovery tool. The checker runs machine-detectable structural and PDF/UA-oriented checks and keeps the findings that still need manual review.
How can I find every PDF published on a website?
The free DocAccessible website PDF scanner takes a domain and lists the public PDFs the site links to, where each file is linked from, and automated checks on the most-linked files. It runs anonymously in the browser with no script to install and no account.
Working with vendors
Can our existing remediation vendor work through DocAccessible?
Yes. Exchange is included in every software plan, so an existing vendor can be invited to a restricted, case-scoped portal. The workspace receives immutable revisions, records review decisions, and delivers one approved file through an expiring link. External vendors are restricted case participants rather than internal seats, and remediation labor is not included in any software plan.
Found something out of date?
These answers are reviewed against the product and the governing primary sources. If a figure, limit, or date here is wrong, report it through the contact form with the disputed statement and a supporting source. Our editorial policy explains how corrections are handled and how review dates are set.