PDF Remediation Services
Ensuring PDFs are accessible is just as important as making a website accessible. To create an inclusive digital experience for all users, including those with disabilities, accessibility must be prioritized in all online content. PDF remediation services evaluate, correct, and verify documents to meet compliance standards, identifying and fixing accessibility barriers that could make it difficult for individuals with disabilities to read, navigate, or interact with PDF content.
Regardless of the industry—financial institutions, insurance companies, educational organizations, or small businesses—providing properly structured and compliant PDFs ensures that all visitors can easily access and understand critical information.
Making PDFs Fully Accessible
PDF accessibility assessment and remediation services help eliminate barriers and ensure full compliance with Section 508 and WCAG AA guidelines. Each document undergoes a thorough manual review by accessibility specialists, who apply best practices to enhance usability and ensure compliance with accessibility standards.
Proper tagging structures are incorporated to make PDFs compatible with assistive technologies like screen readers. For instance, documents containing tables must have correctly structured elements so that users relying on screen readers can navigate them logically. Table headers are defined with appropriate scope to ensure clarity.
The remediation process ensures that all necessary steps are taken to achieve compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other accessibility regulations. Failing to meet these requirements can expose organizations to legal risks related to digital accessibility.
Common Accessibility Barriers in PDFs
Many PDFs contain elements that create accessibility challenges, such as:
• Missing or incomplete metadata
• PDFs consisting solely of images with no readable text
• Lack of bookmarks for easy navigation
• Incorrect or missing language settings
Limitations of Automated PDF Accessibility Tools
Similar to website accessibility testing, ensuring that documents are fully accessible requires manual intervention. Although tools like Adobe Acrobat’s autotag feature provide a starting point, they do not guarantee full compliance. A manual review is essential to verify an accurate tag structure and proper document formatting.
Elements That Require Manual Review
Certain aspects of document accessibility cannot be fully automated and require expert evaluation:
- Color Contrast – Automated tools detect contrast ratios but may miss issues where text overlaps an image. Ensuring adequate readability across all visual elements requires human judgment.
- Tab Order – While software assigns a default tab order, it often fails to reflect the logical sequence intended for screen readers. Manual verification ensures that information is presented in a coherent flow.
- Alternative Text for Images – Automated scans detect whether alternative (alt) text exists but cannot assess its accuracy. A human reviewer ensures every image has a meaningful and useful description.
Comprehensive Approach to PDF Remediation
During remediation, a combination of automated and manual testing is used to verify compliance. If any adjustments impact the document’s visual presentation, approval is requested before making changes.
Cost of PDF Remediation
PDF remediation services are priced on a per-page basis. The cost is determined by evaluating both document size and complexity:
• Size – The total number of pages in the document.
• Complexity – The presence of elements such as tables, graphics, and lists that require detailed tagging and structuring.
Each page is categorized as either simple or complex. After the initial evaluation, a customized quote is provided based on the document’s specific needs.