WCAG and PDF/UA

What Is WCAG?

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a set of international standards from the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) that defines how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

It applies to:

• HTML pages
• JavaScript applications
• Images, video, and audio content on websites
• Forms and UI components

Typical WCAG requirements include providing text alternatives for images, ensuring keyboard navigability, using proper HTML semantics such as headings and landmarks, maintaining sufficient contrast between text and background, and avoiding flashing or flickering content.

WCAG defines three conformance levels:

• A: Minimal.
• AA: The standard requirement for most organizations.
• AAA: The strictest.

What Is PDF/UA?

PDF/UA (PDF Universal Accessibility) is the official standard for accessible PDF documents. It ensures a PDF can be interpreted correctly by assistive technologies such as screen readers and magnifiers.

It applies to:

• PDF documents used for reports, invoices, forms, and similar
• Structure tagging, the PDF equivalent of HTML semantics
• Reading order and logical flow
• Alternative text for images
• Metadata such as language, title, and author

Typical PDF/UA requirements include:

• Tags: Define document structure such as headings, lists, and tables.
• Logical reading order: Match the order to the visual layout.
• Alt text: Describe non-text elements.
• Embedded fonts: Keep rendering consistent across viewers.
• Metadata: Set language and title correctly.

Where IronPDF Fits In

IronPDF is a .NET library that generates PDFs from HTML, Razor, or ASPX views. It can currently generate a PDF/UA compliant PDF, verified with VeraPDF.