♿ Accessible Document — PDF/UA Compliant

The recommended pattern for every production document. Fully accessible with tagged structure, reading order, and artifact marking.

✅ This Is the Recommended Pattern

Every PDF you create for real users should follow this pattern. Tagged PDFs are readable by screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver), allow text reflow on mobile, and meet legal accessibility requirements (ADA, Section 508, EN 301 549).

Accessible Document
using ObviousPDF;
using ObviousPDF.Accessibility;
using ObviousPDF.Fonts;

var doc = new PdfDocument();
doc.Info.Title = "Accessible Document";
doc.Language = "en-US";
doc.DisplayDocTitle = true;
doc.PdfUaConformance = PdfUaConformanceLevel.PdfUA1;
var root = doc.EnableTaggedPdf();

var sect = root.AddChild(StructureType.Sect);
var h1 = sect.AddChild(StructureType.H1);
var pIntro = sect.AddChild(StructureType.P);

// List structure
var list = sect.AddChild(StructureType.L);
var li1 = list.AddChild(StructureType.LI);
var li1Lbl = li1.AddChild(StructureType.Lbl);
var li1Body = li1.AddChild(StructureType.LBody);

var page = doc.AddPage();

// Decorative header — artifact
page.BeginArtifact(PdfArtifactType.Layout);
page.FillRectangle(0, 760, 612, 32,
    new PdfDrawOptions { FillColor = PdfColor.FromRgb(0.15, 0.3, 0.6) });
page.EndArtifact();

page.AddTaggedText(h1, "Welcome to ObviousPDF", 72, 720,
    new PdfTextOptions { Font = StandardFont.HelveticaBold, FontSize = 22 });
page.AddTaggedText(pIntro, "This document is fully accessible.", 72, 690);

// Tagged list
page.AddTaggedText(li1Lbl, "•", 82, 660);
page.AddTaggedText(li1Body, "Tagged PDF for screen readers", 95, 660);

page.AddArtifactText("Page 1", 285, 30, PdfArtifactType.Pagination);

doc.Save("accessible_document.pdf");
Imports ObviousPDF
Imports ObviousPDF.Accessibility
Imports ObviousPDF.Fonts

Dim doc As New PdfDocument()
doc.Info.Title = "Accessible Document"
doc.Language = "en-US"
doc.DisplayDocTitle = True
doc.PdfUaConformance = PdfUaConformanceLevel.PdfUA1
Dim root = doc.EnableTaggedPdf()

Dim sect = root.AddChild(StructureType.Sect)
Dim h1 = sect.AddChild(StructureType.H1)
Dim pIntro = sect.AddChild(StructureType.P)

' List structure
Dim list = sect.AddChild(StructureType.L)
Dim li1 = list.AddChild(StructureType.LI)
Dim li1Lbl = li1.AddChild(StructureType.Lbl)
Dim li1Body = li1.AddChild(StructureType.LBody)

Dim page = doc.AddPage()

' Decorative header — artifact
page.BeginArtifact(PdfArtifactType.Layout)
page.FillRectangle(0, 760, 612, 32,
    New PdfDrawOptions With { .FillColor = PdfColor.FromRgb(0.15, 0.3, 0.6) })
page.EndArtifact()

page.AddTaggedText(h1, "Welcome to ObviousPDF", 72, 720,
    New PdfTextOptions With { .Font = StandardFont.HelveticaBold, .FontSize = 22 })
page.AddTaggedText(pIntro, "This document is fully accessible.", 72, 690)

' Tagged list
page.AddTaggedText(li1Lbl, "•", 82, 660)
page.AddTaggedText(li1Body, "Tagged PDF for screen readers", 95, 660)

page.AddArtifactText("Page 1", 285, 30, PdfArtifactType.Pagination)

doc.Save("accessible_document.pdf")
open ObviousPDF
open ObviousPDF.Accessibility
open ObviousPDF.Fonts

let doc = PdfDocument()
doc.Info.Title <- "Accessible Document"
doc.Language <- "en-US"
doc.DisplayDocTitle <- true
doc.PdfUaConformance <- PdfUaConformanceLevel.PdfUA1
let root = doc.EnableTaggedPdf()

let sect = root.AddChild(StructureType.Sect)
let h1 = sect.AddChild(StructureType.H1)
let pIntro = sect.AddChild(StructureType.P)

// List structure
let list = sect.AddChild(StructureType.L)
let li1 = list.AddChild(StructureType.LI)
let li1Lbl = li1.AddChild(StructureType.Lbl)
let li1Body = li1.AddChild(StructureType.LBody)

let page = doc.AddPage()

// Decorative header — artifact
page.BeginArtifact(PdfArtifactType.Layout)
page.FillRectangle(0.0, 760.0, 612.0, 32.0,
    PdfDrawOptions(FillColor = PdfColor.FromRgb(0.15, 0.3, 0.6)))
page.EndArtifact()

page.AddTaggedText(h1, "Welcome to ObviousPDF", 72.0, 720.0,
    PdfTextOptions(Font = StandardFont.HelveticaBold, FontSize = 22.0))
page.AddTaggedText(pIntro, "This document is fully accessible.", 72.0, 690.0)

// Tagged list
page.AddTaggedText(li1Lbl, "\u2022", 82.0, 660.0)
page.AddTaggedText(li1Body, "Tagged PDF for screen readers", 95.0, 660.0)

page.AddArtifactText("Page 1", 285.0, 30.0, PdfArtifactType.Pagination)

doc.Save("accessible_document.pdf")
Add-Type -Path "ObviousPDF.dll"

$doc = [ObviousPDF.PdfDocument]::new()

# Step 1: Required document metadata
$doc.Info.Title = "Accessible Document"
$doc.Language = "en-US"          # REQUIRED
$doc.DisplayDocTitle = $true      # REQUIRED
$doc.PdfUaConformance =
    [ObviousPDF.PdfUaConformanceLevel]::PdfUA1

# Step 2: Enable tagged PDF
$root = $doc.EnableTaggedPdf()

# Step 3: Build structure tree
$sect = $root.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::Sect)
$h1 = $sect.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::H1)
$pIntro = $sect.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::P)

# List structure
$list = $sect.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::L)
$li1 = $list.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::LI)
$li1Lbl = $li1.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::Lbl)
$li1Body = $li1.AddChild([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.StructureType]::LBody)

# Step 4: Add tagged content to page
$page = $doc.AddPage()

# Decorative header — ARTIFACT (not structural)
$page.BeginArtifact([ObviousPDF.Accessibility.PdfArtifactType]::Layout)
$page.FillRectangle(0, 760, 612, 32,
    [ObviousPDF.PdfDrawOptions]@{
        FillColor = [ObviousPDF.PdfColor]::FromRgb(0.15, 0.3, 0.6)
    })
$page.EndArtifact()

# Tagged heading
$page.AddTaggedText($h1, "Welcome to ObviousPDF",
    72, 720, [ObviousPDF.PdfTextOptions]@{
        Font = [ObviousPDF.Fonts.StandardFont]::HelveticaBold
        FontSize = 22
    })

# Tagged paragraph
$page.AddTaggedText($pIntro,
    "This document is fully accessible.",
    72, 690)

# Tagged list items
$page.AddTaggedText($li1Lbl, [char]0x2022, 82, 660)
$page.AddTaggedText($li1Body,
    "Tagged PDF for screen readers",
    95, 660)

# Page number — ARTIFACT
$page.AddArtifactText("Page 1", 285, 30,
    [ObviousPDF.Accessibility.PdfArtifactType]::Pagination)

# Step 5: Validate
$checker = [ObviousPDF.Accessibility.PdfAccessibilityChecker]::new()
$report = $checker.Check($doc)
# $report.IsFullyCompliant -eq $true ✅

$doc.Save("accessible.pdf")
📄 Download Example PDF
Screenshot of the Accessible Document PDF with a blue decorative header bar at top, a large tagged heading 'Welcome to ObviousPDF', an introduction paragraph, and a bulleted list — all with visible structure tags in the PDF viewer's Tags panel showing Document, Sect, H1, P, L, LI, Lbl, LBody elements

You should see a solid dark-blue header bar spanning the full page width, a bold 22 pt heading "Welcome to ObviousPDF", a short introductory paragraph, and one bulleted list item reading "Tagged PDF for screen readers". A "Page 1" artifact appears at the bottom centre. In Adobe Acrobat's Tags panel the tree should show Document › Sect › H1, P, L › LI › Lbl, LBody.
File: 05_accessible_document.pdf

⚡ New in v1.2.0 — One-Line Accessibility

For simpler documents, you can replace all the manual setup above with a single call to EnableAccessibility(). It configures PDF/UA-1, tagged PDF, document language, and auto-tagging so AddText, AddTextBlock, and AddImage automatically create structure elements.

var doc = new PdfDocument();
doc.EnableAccessibility("en-US", "Accessible Document");

var page = doc.AddPage();
page.AddText("Welcome to ObviousPDF", 72, 720,
    new PdfTextOptions { Font = StandardFont.HelveticaBold, FontSize = 22 });
page.AddText("This document is fully accessible.", 72, 690);
doc.Save("easy_accessible.pdf");

See the ⚡ Easy Accessibility example for the full guide, including JSON support with "accessible": true.

PDF/UA Checklist

RequirementCodePDF/UA Clause
Document languagedoc.Language = "en-US"§7.1
Document titledoc.Info.Title = "..."§7.1
Display title in viewerdoc.DisplayDocTitle = true§7.1
Tagged PDF enableddoc.EnableTaggedPdf()§7.1
All content taggedAddTaggedText()§7.2
Decorative content as artifactsBeginArtifact()§7.1
Correct heading hierarchyH1 → H2 → H3 (no skipping)§7.4.2
Figures have alt text + BBoxAddChild(Figure, "alt")§7.3
PDF/UA identifierPdfUaConformanceLevel.PdfUA1§6.7.11
⚠️ Disclaimer: The automated accessibility features and reports provided by ObviousPDF are intended solely to assist in the assessment of document accessibility. They are not a comprehensive accessibility audit. To confirm that WCAG or PDF/UA standards are fully met, it is recommended to have human assessment by an accessibility specialist.