Your Guide to PDF Validation

Ensuring your PDF documents are accessible to everyone is more than good practice – it’s a compliance requirement. Standards like PDF/UA and WCAG define the rules that make PDFs readable by assistive technologies such as screen readers. With PDFix, you can automate PDF validation and instantly detect issues that prevent your documents from meeting accessibility standards. This saves time, reduces manual work, and ensures your PDFs are fully inclusive and compliant.

Effortless PDF Validation with PDFix

Validating a PDF for accessibility is quick and simple using PDFix Desktop Pro:

1. Open your PDF in PDFix.
2. Check the Tags Panel to verify your document is tagged.
3. Run Validation — click the Validate button in the Validation Panel.

Within seconds, PDFix scans your document against accessibility rules and displays any non-compliant areas.

Discovering and Understanding Common PDF Accessibility Errors

Show Error: After validation, PDFix presents a list of detected issues, categorized by error type and location. These may include:

• Missing or incorrect alternative text for images
• Improper heading structure
• Non-tagged links or lists
• Incorrect reading order

Each error includes a detailed description and a direct link to the problematic element, helping you quickly locate and fix accessibility barriers.

Navigating and Fixing PDF Validation Errors

PDFix makes error resolution intuitive:

• Clicking an error highlights it directly in the Content Panel and Tags Panel.
• Selecting “Alternative Description Error” for figures, for instance, instantly displays the related figure and its tag structure.
• You can easily fix similar issues with links, headings, and text content.

Once all issues are corrected, click Revalidate to confirm your PDF now passes accessibility checks.

Learn how to Run PDF validation with PDFix, and visit our User Guide for detailed best practices and troubleshooting tips.