PDF/UA Certification (ISO 14289)

What is PDF/UA and Why Does It Matter?

PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility), formally known as ISO 14289, is the international standard that defines what makes a PDF document accessible. Unlike WCAG, which provides general accessibility guidelines applicable to all digital content, PDF/UA specifies exact technical requirements for the PDF format itself.

The 'UA' in PDF/UA stands for Universal Accessibility—a PDF that conforms to this standard should be accessible to all users, regardless of the assistive technology they use. Whether someone accesses your document with JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, or a refreshable Braille display, a PDF/UA-compliant document will work correctly.

Why PDF/UA Certification Matters PDF/UA compliance isn't just about accessibility—it's increasingly a business requirement. European public procurement often mandates PDF/UA compliance for document submissions. The European Accessibility Act references PDF/UA through EN 301 549. Many enterprise customers now require PDF/UA certification as part of vendor assessments.

Critically, PDF/UA provides machine-verifiable requirements. Unlike WCAG, where many success criteria require human judgment, PDF/UA requirements can be validated through automated tools like PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker). This makes it easier to verify compliance and provide objective certification.

PDF/UA Technical Requirements: The Complete Breakdown

PDF/UA defines specific technical requirements organized across several categories, with the Matterhorn Protocol breaking these down into 136 testable checkpoints. Understanding these requirements is essential for creating documents that pass certification.

Structure Requirements Every element of content must be either tagged or marked as an artifact. Tags must be semantically appropriate—a heading must use H1-H6 tags, not just bold paragraph text. The tag structure must define a logical reading order that makes sense when linearized. The document must have a title in its metadata and include a PDF/UA identifier declaring conformance to the standard.

Text Requirements All text must be Unicode-mapped, meaning screen readers can extract actual characters rather than glyph codes. The document language must be declared, with language changes marked inline where appropriate. Fonts must be embedded or have proper fallback definitions. Text must be actual text content, not images of text.

Table Requirements Tables must use proper TH (table header) and TD (table data) markup. Header cells must be associated with data cells through scope attributes or ID/Headers relationships. Complex tables with merged cells or multiple header levels require explicit header-cell associations. Layout tables (used for visual positioning rather than data) should be marked as artifacts.

Image and Graphics Requirements Every image must either have alternative text (for meaningful images) or be marked as an artifact (for decorative elements). Complex images like charts, diagrams, and infographics require detailed descriptions that convey the same information as the visual. Figure captions must be properly associated with their images.

Form Requirements All form fields must have programmatic labels that screen readers can announce. Field descriptions and instructions must be provided. Tab order must follow a logical sequence. Required fields must be identified both visually and programmatically. Radio buttons and checkboxes must be grouped appropriately.

Navigation Requirements Documents with hierarchical structure should include bookmarks that reflect the logical document outline. Heading structure must be logical and hierarchical (H1 followed by H2, not H1 followed by H4). Links must have meaningful text, not 'click here.' Table of contents entries should link to their corresponding sections.

PDF/UA vs WCAG: Complementary Standards for Complete Compliance

PDF/UA and WCAG are often mentioned together, but they serve different purposes and have different scopes. Understanding how they relate is crucial for achieving comprehensive document accessibility.

PDF/UA: Technical Specification PDF/UA tells you exactly how to implement accessibility features in PDF format. It specifies tag names, attribute requirements, and technical structures. Requirements are binary—your document either meets them or doesn't. Validation is largely automatable through tools like PAC.

WCAG: Accessibility Principles WCAG provides general guidelines for all digital content. It must be interpreted for PDF context (which EN 301 549 Section 10 does). Many criteria involve subjective judgment—is alt text 'sufficient'? Is contrast 'adequate'? Full validation requires manual testing alongside automation.

Where They Overlap Both standards require proper document structure, alternative text for images, keyboard accessibility for forms, and meaningful navigation. A document that meets PDF/UA will satisfy most WCAG structure and content requirements.

Where They Differ PDF/UA doesn't address color contrast—you can have a PDF/UA-compliant document with light gray text on white background. WCAG 1.4.3 requires 4.5:1 contrast for normal text. PDF/UA doesn't address cognitive accessibility considerations like reading level or consistent terminology that WCAG addresses.

Best Practice: Achieve Both For complete accessibility compliance, documents should meet both PDF/UA and WCAG 2.2 AA. PDF/UA ensures technical interoperability with assistive technologies. WCAG ensures the content is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for all users. At EqualXS, we certify against both standards.

How PDF/UA Certification Works: From Audit to Certificate

PDF/UA certification involves systematic validation against the ISO 14289 standard, combining automated testing with expert manual review. Here's how EqualXS approaches certification.

Step 1: Initial Assessment We begin with automated analysis using PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker), the authoritative free tool from the PDF Association. PAC validates against the Matterhorn Protocol's 136 checkpoints, identifying structural issues, missing tags, and technical non-conformances. This provides a baseline understanding of your document's compliance status—most documents fail 20-40 checkpoints on first analysis.

Step 2: Manual Expert Review Automated tools catch technical issues but can't evaluate content quality. Our accessibility experts manually review: alternative text quality (accurate, concise, meaningful), reading order logic (especially in complex layouts), semantic appropriateness of tags, form field usability, and navigation effectiveness. This human review catches the issues that automation misses—and these are often the issues that most impact real users.

Step 3: Remediation For documents that don't pass, we perform remediation to achieve compliance. This involves adding or correcting PDF tags, fixing reading order, writing appropriate alternative text, restructuring forms for accessibility, and adding navigation aids. For high-volume documents, we remediate templates to ensure future documents are created correctly from the start.

Step 4: Assistive Technology Testing Before certification, we test documents with actual screen readers—NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver—to verify real-world usability. A document can pass technical validation but still provide a poor user experience. This testing ensures practical accessibility, not just technical compliance.

Step 5: Certification Once validated, we issue a PDF/UA compliance certificate documenting: the standard version (PDF/UA-1 or PDF/UA-2), validation methodology, testing date, and certificate validity. This certification satisfies European public procurement requirements and provides audit evidence for accessibility compliance programs.