Accessibility Checker (PDF/UA) - Free Online Browser Tool

Check a PDF for tagging, language, title, image alt text and embedded fonts, and get a report. Nothing uploaded.

A PDF is a picture of a page with some hidden instructions attached, and almost none of those instructions are aimed at people. A document can look perfect on screen and be unreadable to a screen reader, and the gap between the two is invisible unless something looks inside the file. This tool looks inside. It reads what the document says about itself: whether it carries a structure tree that gives headings, lists and tables their meaning; what language it declares so a reader can pick the right voice; whether it has a title to announce when it opens; how many of its images carry alternative text; and whether its fonts are embedded or left to the reader's machine to substitute. It also tells you when the pages are a scan, because a picture of text has no characters for anything to read. You get a report you can send to whoever produced the document, with each failing check written as a sentence about what a reader actually loses, and a fix for each one. What this is not: a certificate. It reads the signals a file declares rather than testing the file the way a screen reader does, and it reports "not checked" rather than a green tick whenever a signal could not be read. Use it to find what is obviously wrong before paying for a proper audit, not instead of one. Everything is read on your own device - a medical record or a contract never reaches a server.

This accessibility checker (pdf/ua) utility runs completely inside your web browser. Your document is opened locally and processed on your own device using JavaScript and WebAssembly, so your file is never uploaded to any server. There is no signup, no watermark and no limit on how many documents you can handle.

  • 100% client-side - files never leave your device
  • Instant processing, no upload wait
  • Works on desktop, tablet and mobile
  • Free forever, no account required

Common next steps: OCR PDF (Make Searchable), Extract Metadata, PDF Text-to-Speech (Audio Reader), Inspect Security & Permissions.

How to Use the Accessibility Checker (PDF/UA) Tool

Four steps, and the whole thing runs locally on your own device.

  1. Load the PDF

    Any document will do. The file is read in place, and the checks run against what is inside it rather than against how it looks.

  2. Read the findings

    Each check says what was found and what it costs a reader who cannot see the page. A fail here is not a formatting nit; it is a page somebody cannot finish.

  3. Follow the fixes

    Every failing check carries the specific action - usually a setting in the application that produced the file, because alt text and tagging live in the document, not in the PDF afterwards.

  4. Download the report

    A standalone HTML page you can read, print or email. Add the JSON option if you are tracking several documents and want the results somewhere a machine can read them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a passing report mean my PDF is accessible?

No, and it would be dishonest if it said so. This reads what the file declares about itself, which catches the failures responsible for most problems, but it does not test reading order, contrast, link purpose or the experience of an actual screen reader. For a legal requirement, treat it as preparation rather than as the certificate itself.

What does "tagged" actually do?

A tagged PDF records the structure of the page as data - which text is a heading, which cells are table headers, which figure belongs with which caption. A reader uses that to navigate and to describe the page. Without it, the same content is a single undifferentiated stream of text read from the top.

Why does it say some things were not checked?

Because the signals it could not read are reported as unknown instead of guessed. That happens when the document stores its structure inside compressed internal streams that this browser could not open. A green tick you cannot justify is worse than an honest gap.

Can I fix a document that fails?

Most failures are fixed at the source, because tagging, alt text and a language setting are written into the document when it is created. Export from Word with "Tagged PDF" enabled, or use a tool that adds tags and alternatives, and re-run this check afterwards to confirm.

Does the checker send my file anywhere?

No. The file is opened, read and reported on inside your browser, and the report is generated there. No part of it is sent to a server, which matters when the document is the thing you are trying to keep private.