Section 508, WCAG and PDF accessibility

Three names come up in almost every conversation about accessible documents. They fit together simply.

How they relate

• WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is the technical standard. It is published by the W3C and describes what accessible content has to do.
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to federal agencies and to those that build their technology. It points to WCAG 2.0 Level AA as its technical standard.
• ADA Title II applies to state and local governments. Its web rule points to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Read our ADA Title II guide for the details.

In practice a document built to WCAG 2.1 AA also meets the 2.0 requirements that Section 508 names, so one target serves both.

What an accessible PDF contains

• Real text. A scan is only a picture of text. It needs OCR before a screen reader can read it.
• Tags. The hidden structure that marks headings, paragraphs, lists and tables. An untagged PDF has no structure for assistive technology to follow.
• Reading order. Content has to be read in the order a sighted reader would follow it, even across columns and sidebars.
• Headings. A logical outline so people can move through a long document.
• Table structure. Header cells identified, so each value can be read with its row and column.
• Alternative text. A short description for each meaningful image, chart and figure.
• Language and title. The document language set, and a title that says what the file is.
• Usable links and forms. Link text that makes sense out of context, and form fields with labels.

Checking a PDF

Automated tools find a share of these problems, such as missing tags, missing language and untitled files. They cannot judge whether alt text is meaningful or whether the reading order makes sense, which takes a person. Our free report runs the quick automated checks on a few of your documents so you can see where you stand.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Savoy does not guarantee compliance with any accessibility law. See our Terms of Service.