Test live pages Pro
PDF accessibility checks
Check the PDFs in your Media Library for tags, title, language, scanned pages, bookmarks and restrictive encryption.
Overview
PDF checks adds a Documents screen under Accessibility. It lists the PDFs in your Media Library, with counts for Passing, With problems and Not checked at the top. The table shows each file's pages, whether it is tagged, its title, its language, the result and Linked from: how many published posts, pages, templates and menus link to it. Files with problems come first, so the most visible ones are easy to find.
New PDFs are checked as they are uploaded. Files over 10 MB, imports and the third or later PDF in one upload go to a background job instead, so uploads stay quick. A daily job picks up anything new or changed, and Check all documents runs the whole library from the screen. Results are stored with each file and reused until the file changes.
Details on each row lists the findings, each with its WCAG criterion and a How to fix note with the exact setting in Word, Google Docs, InDesign or Acrobat. Re-check inspects one file again. A file replaced through a media-replace plugin is checked again on its own. When the Content report flags a link to a PDF from your Media Library, it points to that file's result under Accessibility → Documents.
Why it matters
Menus, price lists, forms and reports often live in PDFs that were never made accessible. A scanned or untagged PDF is a picture of text — a screen reader has nothing to read.
What you get
- Untagged or badly tagged PDFs (WCAG 1.3.1).
- Missing or file-name titles (2.4.2) and missing or invalid language (3.1.1).
- Image-only and partly scanned pages (1.1.1, 1.4.5), and long documents without bookmarks (2.4.5).
- Encryption settings that block assistive technology.
- Runs on your server in pure PHP — files never leave the site.
How it works
-
Open Documents
PDFs in the Media Library are listed, with problems first.
-
Check them
Each file is inspected and the results are cached until the file changes.
-
Fix the source file
Findings explain what to change when exporting from Word or Google Docs.
Who it helps
-
Councils and public bodies
Agendas, minutes, forms and annual reports are often published as PDFs. The Documents screen shows which ones have no tags or no real text.
-
Restaurants and small businesses
A scanned menu or price list is a picture of text. The check flags it, and the fix explains how to export a real PDF from the original file.
-
Schools and universities
Handbooks and policies grow long. Documents over ten pages without bookmarks are flagged, with the export setting that creates them.
Good to know
How it behaves, what it needs, and where its limits are.
- Plans and access
- Included in every Pro plan. The Documents screen needs the same permission as the Lumtera reports, editors and administrators by default.
- Limits
- Files over 50 MB are marked Too large to check. Each file has a time budget of about ten seconds; a file too complex to finish is marked Took too long to check. The screen lists up to 5,000 PDFs.
- No guessing
- When part of a file cannot be read, the affected checks are skipped and the result says Some checks skipped. An unknown answer is never reported as a pass.
- What still needs a person
- Reading order, alternative text on images, table structure and the accuracy of the tags are not checked. Use Acrobat Pro's accessibility checker or the free PAC checker for those.
- Scope
- Only PDFs uploaded to the Media Library are checked. PDFs hosted on other sites, and other formats such as Word or PowerPoint files, are not.
Checks you will see here
-
WCAG 2.4.4 · ANeeds review
Link opens a document file
Questions
Something else on your mind? Contact support
Is this a full PDF/UA audit?
No. It catches the most common, most serious problems automatically. Reading order and tag accuracy still need a person with a PDF tool.
Does it change or fix my PDFs?
No. Files are only read. You fix the source document or edit the PDF in a PDF editor, then upload the new file, which is checked again.
What does Passes basic checks mean?
No errors or items to review were found in tags, title, language, real text, security settings and bookmarks. It does not mean the PDF is fully accessible.
Are password-protected PDFs checked?
As far as possible. If the security settings forbid text access for screen readers, that is reported as an error. If the contents cannot be read at all, the file is marked Could not be checked, with steps to check it by hand.
More in “Test live pages”
-
Free
Whole-page review
Check a page the way visitors see it — theme, header, menus, footer and page-builder output — with real color contrast, target size and keyboard focus checks, from Review mode.
-
Pro
Page checks for key pages and templates
Check many pages in one run — home, archives, search, the 404 page, WooCommerce shop, cart and checkout — with contrast from your theme, and keep every result for reports and scheduled re-checks.
-
Pro
Scheduled page checks
Your key pages and templates, found for you, checked daily or weekly as a logged-out visitor — with an alert only when new errors appear.
Start with the free plugin today
All 64 checks, the editor sidebar, Elementor panel and site report — free, with no account and no page limits.