PDF Remediation is the process of “tagging” digital elements of PDF documents so that they can be read using assistive technology. Again, these “tags” identify the elements and inform the assistive technology about the order in which they are meant to be read. Many organizations use the PDF file format because visually it remains the same no matter what platform is used to open it. For visual users, the PDF format is stable and consistent across many platforms and a variety of devices.
Ideally, all documents would be created accessibly, and stay that way even if “saved as PDF.” In truth, that is often not the case. Even completely accessible documents created in MS Word, Google Docs or other authoring tools may not be accessible when saved to PDF format. Not all existing tags are preserved when content is converted to PDF, and some elements may still require remediation in order to remain accessible. Similarly, a document that beings as inaccessible or only partially accessible will not be more accessible when saved as a PDF. Remediation is required.
The benefits of adding correct PDF tagging go beyond accessibility. They also improve the SEO of any online documents and make such documents more usable for everyone reading them.
Common PDF elements requiring remediation to be made accessible are images, headings, links, lists, tables, and reading order. Other elements may require remediation as well, but these are the most commonly occurring elements needing to be tagged.