Beyond WCAG for PDF: Understanding PDF/UA and the Matterhorn Protocol
taught by: Bouton Jones
Session Summary
This 90-minute session explains the standards and testing approaches that matter most for accessible PDF documents. While WCAG provides a strong foundation, it does not fully address the technical and usability requirements of PDFs.
Description
This session focuses on how PDF/UA and the Matterhorn Protocol fill those gaps and how the additional success criteria and best practices should be applied in real-world document workflows. Designed for accessibility practitioners, developers, testers, and document authors, the session compares WCAG and PDF/UA requirements and identifies which guidelines apply directly to PDFs, which do not, and why. Attendees learn how PDF/UA checkpoints affect screen reader behavior, navigation, and document usability, not just technical compliance.
The session also covers common authoring and export issues, such as lost headings, missing document titles, untagged content, font embedding failures, misleading OCR results, and problematic features like XFA forms and article threads. Guidance is provided on quality assurance, validation tools, and the PDF Association’s recommended approach to producing accessible PDFs at scale.
This session was previously presented at John Slatin AccessU and will be updated to reflect current standards and practices.
Practical Skills
- Explain how WCAG, PDF/UA, and the Matterhorn Protocol relate to each other and when each applies.
- Apply PDF/UA checkpoints to evaluate PDF accessibility beyond basic WCAG conformance.
- Identify which PDF/UA requirements are not applicable in specific situations and make informed testing decisions.