Frequently asked questions
Short, citable answers to the questions we get most. Each one links to a dedicated page with the full breakdown.
What does PDF remediation cost?
Human remediation services charge $3–10 per page in 2026 (complex documents higher), so a 50-page report runs $150–500 with multi-day turnaround. Automated remediation of born-digital PDFs costs a flat per-document price — typically less than one page's service rate — and finishes in minutes. Scans and complex forms still warrant human services.
How do I know if my PDF is ADA compliant?
Run the machine checks first: is the document tagged, does it declare a language and title, do images carry alt text, does the text extract as real characters? Failing any of these fails accessibility outright. A free automated audit answers them in seconds; passing machine checks plus a sensible human read-through is the practical bar most documents need.
What is a tagged PDF?
A tagged PDF carries an invisible structure tree — labels like Heading 1, Paragraph, Table, Figure arranged in reading order — that screen readers navigate instead of the page's raw ink. Tags don't change how the PDF looks; they define how it reads. An untagged PDF is the single most common accessibility failure.
What's the difference between PDF/UA and WCAG?
WCAG is the general web-content accessibility standard (perceivable, operable, understandable, robust); PDF/UA (ISO 14289) is the PDF-specific technical standard defining exactly how a compliant PDF must be built — tags, reading order, metadata, artifacts. In practice they overlap heavily: a properly tagged PDF/UA document satisfies the document-relevant WCAG criteria, and regulations (508, EAA/EN 301 549) reference WCAG while auditors test PDFs with PDF/UA checks.