Why PDFs get rejected

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PDF accessibility pre-check

Seven checks that decide whether a PDF can be made accessible at all, and roughly how much work it will be. It runs inside your browser using Mozilla's pdf.js. Your file is never uploaded, never stored, and never seen by me.

Drop a PDF here, or press to choose one

Nothing is uploaded. The file is read in this tab and discarded when you close it.

Large files take a moment. A 500-page document reads in about ten seconds.

What this does not check

This is a pre-check, not a conformance test, and the gap between the two is large. It reads seven structural facts that are cheap to read and that decide whether remediation is even possible. It does not evaluate:

  • whether alternative text is correct, only whether images exist
  • reading order, which is the single most common real-world defect
  • table header cells and scope
  • heading rank and nesting
  • font embedding, colour contrast, or form field labelling
  • roughly 100 other rules that veraPDF checks against PDF/UA-1

A file that looks clean here can still fail PDF/UA-1. A file that fails here will definitely fail it. For a real answer, run veraPDF, which is free and open source, or send the file to someone who will run it for you and show you the report.

If this tells you something you did not expect and you want a second opinion, send the file to kaleb@revivacatch.com and I will run the full validator and tell you what it says, at no charge. If the answer is that your document is fine, I will say that. Nine documents I have measured and remediated are published here, before and after.

If you want it fixed rather than explained

Two ways, because the two kinds of organisation that need this buy in completely different ways. Either one gets you the same thing back: the repaired file, and the veraPDF report showing what it scored before and after.

RevivaCatch is one person, not an agency. There is no certification behind this and no assistive-technology testing is claimed. What is claimed is the validator score, which you can re-run yourself on the file you get back.