How to Use the Accessibility Checker in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC
Today’s post is a step-by-step guide to using Adobe Acrobat Pro DC’s built-in Accessibility Checker to quickly scan your PDF for common accessibility issues and generate a clear report you can act on.
It’s a strong first step toward making your documents more inclusive and easier to navigate for everyone.
Video Guide
What the Accessibility Checker Does
The Accessibility Checker reviews a PDF against many common requirements, such as:
- tag structure
- alternate text, and
- table settings
It then generates a results panel showing passes, warnings, and failures.
Some items can be fixed directly from the results list, while others must be addressed manually.
Step-by-Step: Run the Accessibility Checker
1) Open Your PDF in Acrobat Pro DC
Start by launching Adobe Acrobat Pro DC and opening the PDF you want to review. The checker only runs on an open document.
2) Navigate to the Accessibility Tools
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Click All Tools in the top-left area of Acrobat.
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Select Prepare for Accessibility.
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If you don’t see it, click View More and locate Prepare for Accessibility in the expanded tool list.
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3) Start the Accessibility Check
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Inside Prepare for Accessibility, click Check for Accessibility.
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In the checker options, ensure you are checking 32 of 32 categories so the scan covers everything available.
4) Adjust Settings for Forms, Tables, and Lists
Before running the scan, the transcript recommends switching the dropdown menu to:
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Forms, Tables and Lists
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Then enable: Tables have summary
These settings help Acrobat apply the most relevant checks to structured content like tables and form-like elements.
5) Run the Scan
Click Start Checking. Acrobat will scan the PDF and open a results report listing detected items.
How to Read the Results Report
After the scan, Acrobat presents a tree of results, with items grouped by category. You may see:
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Errors: items Acrobat believes are failing a requirement
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Warnings: items that might be issues depending on context
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Manual checks: items the software cannot reliably determine
Always Manually Review
Two checks will always require a human decision:
Even if Acrobat flags or passes other items, you must manually confirm that the content reads correctly in order and that text has sufficient contrast against backgrounds.
Tackling Errors
If you run the checker and see many failures, a common cause is that the PDF is not tagged. An untagged document lacks the structure assistive technologies rely on.
Tag the Document
If your document does not have tags, you’ll need to get tags into it. Use Adobe Acrobat’s auto-tag feature or add them manually. Â
Re-run the Accessibility Checker once the PDF is tagged.Â
Once tagging is in place, many issues become easier to resolve because Acrobat can now evaluate structural requirements more accurately.
Fixing Issues Directly From the Checker Panel
In many cases, you can right-click items in the Accessibility Checker results and choose a fix option. This won’t work for every issue, but it can resolve many problems efficiently once the document is tagged.
A Practical Workflow You Can Reuse
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Open PDF
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All Tools → Prepare for Accessibility → Check for Accessibility
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Confirm 32/32 categories
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Set dropdown to Forms, Tables and Lists and enable Tables have summary
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Start Checking
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Review report
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Manually verify Reading Order and Color Contrast
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If needed, tag the PDF, then re-run and apply right-click fixes
Acrobat’s built-in Accessibility Checker is an excellent first pass for identifying issues and speeding up remediation. Use it to generate a structured report, fix what Acrobat can fix automatically, and then complete the process by manually reviewing reading order and color contrast.
Let me be your champion for inclusion. I offer tailored solutions (and self-paced courses!) to ensure your documents meet and exceed compliance expectations. For more detailed insights, tutorials, and in-depth discussions on accessibility and related topics, don’t forget to check out my YouTube channel: The Accessibility Guy on YouTube. Subscribe for regular updates!
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