Accessibility means people using assistive technology, such as screen readers, can read and navigate your document. It is a legal requirement for many organisations and simply good practice for everyone else. It is also easy to get half right.
What an accessible PDF needs
- Real text rather than page images, so a screen reader has words to read
- Tags that mark headings, paragraphs, lists and tables, so the structure is clear
- Correct reading order, especially for columns and sidebars
- Alternative text for meaningful images and charts
- A document language and a meaningful title
- Sufficient colour contrast, and no information conveyed by colour alone
- Usable forms and links, with clear labels and descriptive link text
These come from the design of the document, not from a final conversion step.
Where our tools help
Turn a scan into text. A scanned PDF is a picture, so a screen reader finds nothing to read. OCR PDF adds a text layer so the words can be read and searched. The OCR tool currently works best with English. Read our OCR guide for accuracy tips, and proofread the result, since recognition errors get read aloud.
Check what text exists. Extract Text shows the text a PDF holds. If the output is empty or jumbled, a screen reader will struggle too. See extracting text.
Tidy pages. Rotate PDF fixes orientation, Crop PDF removes clutter and Delete Pages drops blank pages that confuse navigation.
Where they don't reach
OCR gives you searchable text. It does not add tags, set the reading order, describe images or mark headings. Those need either the original document or a dedicated accessibility tool. So a scanned form put through OCR is searchable, but it isn't fully accessible.
The best route: fix it at the source
The most reliable way to produce an accessible PDF is to build accessibility into the original document.
- In Word or a similar editor, use real heading styles, lists and tables with header rows.
- Add alt text to images and charts that carry meaning.
- Set the document title and language.
- Choose good colour contrast.
- Export to PDF using the option that keeps tags and structure.
- Test with a screen reader and an accessibility checker.
If you only have a PDF, use an accessibility checker to find problems, then fix them in the source file where possible.
Quick self-test
- Can you select and search the text?
- Does tabbing or a screen reader read the page in a sensible order?
- Do images that matter have descriptions?
- Is there a title and language set?
- Could someone use the document with colour vision removed?
If you answer no to any of these, the document needs more than OCR.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does OCR make a PDF accessible?
It helps by creating text, but it doesn't add tags, reading order or image descriptions.
Do I need special software?
For full compliance, yes: an accessibility checker and an editor that can set tags. The best fix is to start from an accessible source document.
Are scanned documents accessible?
Not until they have real text, and even then they need structure.
Which standards apply?
Common references are WCAG and the PDF/UA standard. Check the rules that apply to your organisation.