How to make PDFs accessible for a government website

Under the ADA Title II rule, PDFs on a city, county or district website need to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Here is the workflow clerks and web staff can follow.

1. Start in the source document

• Use real heading styles (Heading 1, 2, 3), not bold text.
• Add alt text to meaningful images; mark decorative ones as decorative.
• Build tables with a header row; avoid merged cells where you can.
• Use real lists and set the document language.
• Export with "tagged PDF" / accessibility options turned on.

2. Check the PDF itself

• Tags and reading order: content should read in a logical order.
• Title: set a document title and show it in the window title.
• Language: set the primary language.
• Contrast: text should meet WCAG contrast ratios.
• Forms: fillable fields need labels and a logical tab order.

3. Validate

Free tools: veraPDF checks PDF/UA-1 machine-testable rules, and the PAC checker runs a similar test on Windows. Automated checks can't judge everything (for example, whether alt text makes sense), so a person should still review the result.

4. Keep records

Save the validation report with each document. It shows what was checked and when.

When to outsource

If you post dozens of agendas and packets a month, remediation can eat days of staff time. We remediate agendas, minutes and forms and return the tagged PDF with before-and-after veraPDF reports.

Sources

• DOJ interim final rule, 91 FR 20902 (Apr. 20, 2026)
• 28 CFR 35.200 (current eCFR)
• 28 CFR 35.201 exceptions
• WCAG 2.1

Last reviewed 2026-10-20.