DocForensic

PDF Accessibility Checker

Check a PDF against WCAG/PDF-UA/Section 508 accessibility rules - tag structure, alt text, headings, contrast, form labels and more - with a plain-language remediation checklist.

This tool runs ten accessibility checks over a PDF - whether it has a tag structure at all, reading order, image alt text, table headers, heading hierarchy, document language, color contrast, form field labels, descriptive link text, and bookmarks/title - and reports a pass/fail verdict with every issue found, bucketed by severity. Each issue comes with a plain-language fix, not just a rule code. It only reads the file; nothing is changed.

Every check here is a pure-Python best-effort built on the document's own structure and rendered content - it does not run an external PDF/UA validator, so its pass/fail verdict is this tool's own judgment, not an official conformance certification.

Simple workflow

How it works

  1. 1

    Add PDFs

    Add one or more PDFs to the list, and choose which standard to check against.

  2. 2

    Check

    Run the check on a file and open its findings list.

  3. 3

    Review

    Click a finding to see exactly where it is, then export a report and remediation checklist.

Frequently asked questions

Does a "Pass" verdict mean this document is officially PDF/UA or WCAG certified?

No. This tool does not run an external PDF/UA validator (like veraPDF) - "Pass" here means none of this tool's own checks found a Critical or Serious issue, not a machine-certified conformance claim. Treat it as a strong starting signal, not a legal compliance certificate.

What happens if the PDF has no tag structure at all?

Checks that depend on a tag tree (reading order, alt text, table structure, heading hierarchy) are skipped rather than silently passed, and the document is reported as a fundamental fail with "needs full tagging" as the primary fix - checks that don't need tags (language, contrast, form labels, link text, bookmarks/title) still run normally.

How accurate is the color contrast check?

It's an estimate: text color comes directly from the PDF, but the background behind it is sampled from the rendered page, which is exact for a solid fill and only approximate over a gradient, image, or pattern. Findings say so explicitly - treat borderline results as worth a manual look.

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