How to Create Accessible PDF Documents

The single most impactful thing you can do for PDF accessibility is use proper heading styles in your source document before conversion. Headings create the logical structure that screen readers use to navigate. A user with a visual impairment can jump from heading to heading to understand the document structure and skip to the section they need — exactly like a sighted user scans visually for headings. In Word or Google Docs, apply Heading 1 to your main title, Heading 2 to section headings, and Heading 3 to subsection headings. Do not create visual headings by just making text bigger and bold — this looks like a heading but does not have the structural meaning that screen readers need. When you export to PDF with heading styles correctly applied, the PDF inherits this structure as tagged content. The resulting PDF is navigable, searchable, and readable by assistive technology. Without heading styles, even a beautifully formatted PDF is a flat wall of text to a screen reader user.

1. 1Apply Heading 1, 2, and 3 styles from your word processor's styles panel — never manually format headings
2. 2Check that your heading hierarchy is logical: H2 under H1, H3 under H2, never skip levels
3. 3Use the Navigation Pane in Word to verify the heading structure before converting to PDF
4. 4When converting to PDF, choose 'Export' with document structure tags enabled, not 'Print to PDF'

Every image, chart, diagram, and graphic in your document needs alternative text — a brief description that conveys the visual information to someone who cannot see the image. Screen readers read this alt text aloud in place of displaying the image. Good alt text describes what the image communicates, not just what it shows. For a bar chart showing Q1 sales growth, bad alt text is 'Bar chart.' Good alt text is 'Bar chart showing Q1 sales growth of 23% for Product A and 15% for Product B'. For decorative images that add no informational value, use empty alt text to signal to screen readers that the image should be skipped. In Word, add alt text by right-clicking an image and selecting 'Edit Alt Text'. In Google Docs, click an image, then click 'Alt text' in the toolbar. This alt text transfers to the PDF during export with document tags enabled. Images without alt text are a common accessibility barrier and a frequent compliance failure.

1. 1Right-click every image in your source document and add meaningful alt text before conversion
2. 2Write alt text that describes what the image communicates, not just what it depicts
3. 3Use empty alt text for purely decorative images so screen readers skip them
4. 4For complex charts and diagrams, include a text description in the document body in addition to alt text

Many PDFs fail accessibility standards due to insufficient color contrast — text that is too light against its background is unreadable for people with low vision or color blindness. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines require a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Practical guidance: avoid light gray text on white backgrounds, yellow text on light backgrounds, and any pastel color combinations. Dark text on white or light text on dark — these are high-contrast choices that work for everyone. When using colored text for emphasis, check that the combination passes contrast requirements. Free tools like the WebAIM Contrast Checker let you input two color hex codes and instantly check whether the combination meets accessibility standards. Run your document's key color combinations through this check before finalizing. For tables and callout boxes with colored backgrounds, ensure that text within them has sufficient contrast against the background color, not just against the page.

1. 1Check your text color and background color combinations using the WebAIM Contrast Checker
2. 2Replace light gray or pastel text colors with darker alternatives that meet 4.5:1 contrast ratio
3. 3For colored table cells and callout boxes, verify text contrast against the cell background, not the page
4. 4Avoid conveying information using color alone — add text labels or patterns for colorblind users

A scanned PDF is entirely inaccessible to screen readers. The document contains images of pages rather than actual text, so there is nothing for assistive technology to read. Before distributing any scanned document, run OCR to create a text layer. LazyPDF's OCR tool processes scanned PDFs and adds a searchable text layer to each page. Once processed, the text is readable by screen readers and indexable by search engines. For organizations that regularly receive scanned documents — contracts, forms, correspondence — running OCR before filing is both an accessibility and usability requirement. After OCR processing, check the accuracy of the recognized text. OCR is not perfect, especially on documents with unusual fonts, handwriting, or poor scan quality. Errors in the text layer can mislead screen readers. Verify the first page of each processed document and correct obvious OCR errors before distributing.

1. 1Run OCR on every scanned PDF before distributing it publicly or to users who may need screen readers
2. 2Use the OCR tool to add a searchable text layer to image-based PDFs
3. 3Review the first page of OCR-processed documents to check text accuracy
4. 4Note in your document workflow that scanned documents require OCR before filing or distribution