Let's start from the beginning.
There are so many questions people have around accessibility.
Some as simple as "What does it mean?" or "Why do I have to?" or "What happens if I don't comply?"
Others are a bit more complicated. "Why do I have to choose a heading type? Isn't a heading, a heading?" or "If I can read it, doesn't that mean it's accessible?" or "Why can't I just buy a 'special computer'?"
But, if you want to truly understand digital accessibility and answer some of the more simple questions, you need to start at the top with a slow-pitch question... Why?
Merriam-Webster defines accessible as “easily used or accessed by people with disabilities : adapted for use by people with disabilities.” (Merriam-Webster, s.v. “Accessible,” accessed December 18, 2025.)
Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Accessible” — https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/accessible
If the point and purpose of accessibility is to allow access to people with disabilities, you would think that everything should be accessible by nature, right?
In a perfect world, yes, of course. However, the internet is one of the worst places in terms of overall accessibility of websites, documentation, videos, blog posts, online shopping, and countless other things. And in my opinion, the worst offender of them all, is the PDF.
A PDF is considered “accessible” when assistive technology can understand it the way a human does visually. That means the PDF has an underlying structure that communicates things like headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and reading order. When that structure is missing (or incorrect), a screen reader may jump around the page, read content out of order, skip important information, or treat the document like a flat image. Or the worst possible outcome, say, "this document is blank."
Before really addressing the "Why?" we need to understand the "How?"
When we say "document accessibility" or "How do I make a PDF accessible," two terms come up over and over: Tags and Logical Reading Order. Once you really understand these two pieces, a lot of the mystery of digital accessibility disappears.
Tags are the behind-the-scenes labels that tell assistive technology what each part of a document a PDF is. In an accessible PDF, tags identify things like:
Without them, a PDF is basically just a visual layout of information. The best way of thinking of it is a poorly structured PDF (or document in general) is like a map without a legend, street names, cardinal directions, or a "you are here" sticker. But once you add these map elements to the document, you can immediately determine how to get from Point A to Point B.
Logical reading order is exactly what it sounds like: the content is read in the same order a sighted user would naturally read it. Just note, that's not always left to right and up to down. If the tags are the map, then think about the logical reading order is the directions or the route.
This really matters because most PDFs are designed visually. Multiple columns, text boxes, sidebars, headers/footers, charts, tables, and the list goes on and on...
Let's say you are looking at a press release from your City about an upcoming event you are excited to attend. On this document there are two dates: one is the date of the event, and the other is the date the wrote their press release. The reading order matters! Or another example of a budget document with 50 rows and 5 columns of information talking about your salary schedule. What would happen if rather than reading left to right on this table, it read up to down? Completely different information!
There are many different ways to check, including accessibility checkers, compliance checkers, and read-aloud features. However, there are three easy checks that almost always determine accessibility immediately.
Open the PDF and try to highlight a sentence. If you can, that's a good start! If not, it's a massive red flag. Most scanned PDFs are essentially images unless OCR was applied during the scanning process. If you can select text, that's a good start, but does not mean you're accessible.
If you discover your PDFs aren’t accessible, the next step is remediation; OCR for scans, plus proper structure and reading order.
In most PDF viewers, you can open the left panel and look for Bookmarks/Outline. If there is a clean outline that matches the headings, that's a strong indicator the document has a structure. It may not be a correct structure, but a structure nonetheless!
Grab your mouse or trackpad and try the following:
If you can't reach content logically or the focus jumps all over the screen, that's another red-flag. Especially for fillable forms!
Within most PDF viewers (Adobe Acrobat Pro or Tungsten Automation's PowerPDF) there are accessibility checkers. You can run full document accessibility checks, but know, just because you "pass" a checker, does not mean you are "compliant" with ADA Title II/III, Section 508, AODA, or any other law. They likely still need to be checked. And if you haven't been reading the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA on the weekends, you might want to start! For many public entities, major accessibility compliance deadlines are coming in April 2026 and April 2027, depending on organization size.
No need to stress, our team will help you get started.
Okay - we understand what accessibility is and truly believe in the Mission that it serves. However, I have zero clue where to begin.
If you're like most organizations, especially publicly-funded organizations, you probably have thousands and thousands of documents that are required by law to be made accessible. The challenging part is that you either just heard about this, you have no idea how to actually do it, and you have 50 other things you are supposed to be doing during the day.
It's overwhelming, we know. But the good news is, Accessibility on Demand™ is by far the best place to start. It's fast, it's easy, and it's cheap.
Whether you’re a small business with 100 PDFs on your website, a school district with multiple campuses, or a state agency with tens of thousands of documents, the reality is the same:
Digital accessibility is a process. PDF remediation is a process.
However, it's the right process.
Accessibility on Demand™ (AoD™) is built to be the practical starting point for organizations of any size, because it removes the barriers that stop most teams from getting traction:
Instead, Accessibility on Demand™ helps you work in batches so you can take a realistic first step (and then keep going).
If you’re overwhelmed, don’t start with everything. Start with what people use most.
That's how accessibility becomes sustainable. Not a one-time project and then wash your hands of it. But a repeatable and consistent effort to make documents accessible.
The real goal isn't "perfect." The real goal is access.
Because somewhere in your community, someone needs the information you’re publishing. They shouldn’t have to fight through a document, scramble to find workarounds, or settle for a slower, second-class version of access.
Accessibility on Demand™ is the fastest path to serving that Mission without overwhelming your team.
And let’s be honest, most people agree accessibility is a good thing. We just don’t want anyone to overpay for something that should be a right.
Check out our pricing for yourself. We don’t hide it. We encourage you to reach out and ask questions.
Accessibility on Demand™ Pricing Tiers
If you've heard enough, or you're ready to get started, start here:
Accessibility on Demand™ & IMS Technology Group