Free tools · no account
Free PDF accessibility checker
Drop a PDF here, or choose a file
PDF only, up to 25 MB and 50 pages. The summary is free and needs no account.
One PDF, up to 25 MB and 50 pages. The check starts as soon as you choose a file.
Drop in one PDF and see, usually within seconds, whether it passes the machine accessibility checks — and what it would cost to fix if it does not.
No account, no download, no install. Your file is deleted within 24 hours and is never used to train AI models. How we store and delete uploads.
One PDF, up to 25 MB and 50 pages. Bigger than that? A free account analyzes up to 100 pages a month, a 300-page board packet is what bulk remediation is for — or scan your whole site to see how many documents you have.
Your report
Machine-check report
Sample result — illustrativecity-of-example-agenda.pdf — 12 pages, DocoMatic Score 38 out of 100.
This is what a result looks like: a fictional agenda, with made-up numbers. Upload a file above to see yours in its place.
- Tag structure — fails
- Document title — passes
- Document language — fails
- Reading order — 3 issues flagged
- Image alt text coverage — 25% of 4 images have alternative text
- Form field labels — no form fields in this document
A real check usually completes in seconds; the time depends on file size and page count.
Estimated remediation
Estimated level: Level 2 — tables, multi-column pages or images that need alt text, 4 credits a page
About 48 credits — $10.00–$15.00 at published plan rates ($0.20–$0.30 a credit).
An estimate, not a quote. The level is assessed per page when work runs, and you see it before anything is charged. You are not charged for a document that fails verification.
Machine checks are the floor, not the ceiling. Automated checks catch missing structure, but real accessibility also needs human judgment on reading order, alt text quality and form usability — which is why DocoMatic verifies every remediated file, not just checks it.
Anonymous checks are limited to 20 an hour from one network address. Create a free account to analyze up to 100 pages a month — the account is free, needs no card, and includes 100 trial credits for 14 days.
Uploaded files and their reports are deleted within 24 hours by a storage lifecycle rule and are never used to train AI models. See the Privacy Policy and the security page.
The report, part by part
What you get back
One summary on this page, anonymously, and one full report by email. Nothing to sign up for before you see the summary.
The check runs the same analyzer as our remediation pipeline, including veraPDF PDF/UA-1 validation. The summary shows the score and the machine checks; the veraPDF rule results are in the full report.
| Part | What it is |
|---|---|
| DocoMatic Score | 0–100, our published composite of the machine-checkable PDF/UA-1 and WCAG 2.1 AA rules: structure, text alternatives, tables, forms, navigation and metadata, language and fonts. It is the same score our remediation pipeline verifies against. |
| Pass or fail per check | Tag structure, document title, language, reading-order flags, image alt text coverage and form field labels. |
| Estimated level | Level 1, 2 or 3 — recommended from what the pages actually contain: form fields, tables, columns, images, scanned pages. |
| Estimated cost to fix | This file, in credits and in dollars at the published plan rates. An estimate; the level is set per page when work runs. |
| Element-by-element detail | By email and on screen once you give us an address: every flagged element and its location, the PDF/UA-1 rules veraPDF failed it on, and a recommendation. Deleted with your file after 24 hours. |
What a pass means
What your score means
A machine can determine a great deal about a PDF's structure. It cannot determine whether the document is accessible to a person. Both halves of that sentence matter.
| Result | What it means | What it does not mean |
|---|---|---|
| Passes the machine checks | The structure is technically correct: tagged, titled, in a declared language, with alt text present on every image and every form field labeled. | Not that the document is accessible. A machine cannot tell whether the alt text says the right thing, or whether the reading order makes sense to a person. |
| Fails one or more checks | Something structural is missing or wrong, and the full report lists it by page and element. | Not that the document is unusable — but assistive technology will struggle with it, and it would not pass an audit that runs the same checks. |
| Level 1, 2 or 3 | Our estimate of what it would take to fix, from what the pages contain: text only, tables and images, or fillable forms. | Not a final quote. The level is assessed per page when work actually runs, you choose before anything starts, and you are not charged for a document that fails verification. |
No one can certify a document as ADA compliant — there is no such certificate. This tool tells you what a machine can determine, and our verification report records what was checked, by which validator, at which version.
Three doors
What to do next
Three doors, by the result you just got. All three stay open: a file that passed may still have four hundred siblings that did not.
If this file failed and you need it fixed
Remediation is priced per page by level, at published credit rates. Every file is verified before delivery — you are not charged for a document that fails verification.
Run a check above and this door shows the estimate for your file.
Card payment opens with our billing launch. Today, plans and credits are arranged by quote and paid by purchase order.
If you have hundreds more like it
Most entities cannot say how many PDFs they publish. The free website scan inventories every PDF and Office file on a public site, scores a sample and estimates the backlog. No account.
If this one has to be right, not just passing
Forms, legal notices, election materials — a named reviewer checks what machines cannot settle and signs an attestation.
Human review adds 10 credits a page. Turn it on when you request a fix, or arrange it with our team.
Machine and human
What this checks — and what no machine can check
The first list is what runs when you drop a file. The second is not a gap in this tool; it is a gap in every tool.
That second list is why human review exists, and why we price it per page — 10 credits — rather than bundling it into every document.
Checked here
- Tag tree: whether the document is tagged at all
- Document title: present in the document's metadata
- Language: declared for the document
- Reading-order flags: heading levels that skip, list items outside lists, multi-column pages
- Image alt text: how many images carry a text alternative
- Form fields: how many carry a label
- veraPDF PDF/UA-1 validation — rule by rule, in the full report
Not checked by any machine, ours or anyone's
- Whether the alt text describes the right thing
- Whether the reading order makes sense to a person
- Whether a form label matches what the field is actually asking
- Whether a table's headers describe their columns
- Text contrast on the rendered page — this checker does not measure it, and does not pretend to
Compared with PAC
Why not just use PAC?
You can, and we will tell you how. PAC(opens in new tab) (PDF Accessibility Checker) is a free validator published by axes4 in Zurich and it is a good tool. Two practical differences:
| PAC | This checker | |
|---|---|---|
| How you run it | Windows application — download and install | Browser — nothing to install, on any operating system |
| Admin rights needed | Usually, on a managed device | Never |
| What you get | Pass or fail against PDF/UA | The machine checks and the DocoMatic Score on screen; veraPDF's PDF/UA-1 results in the full report; plus the level and the cost to fix |
| Batch | One file at a time | One file at a time here — whole sites with the website scan |
If your IT department will let you install PAC, run both. PAC and the veraPDF(opens in new tab) validator inside our check test the same PDF/UA-1 requirements, and if they disagree, we want to know.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Buying for a larger organization?
Book a 20-minute demo(opens in new tab)What does the PDF accessibility checker test?
Is the PDF checker free?
What happens to the file I upload?
My PDF failed. What do I do now?
Does passing mean my PDF is accessible?
My file is bigger than 50 pages or 25 MB.
Can I check a Word or Excel file?
Can I use this for documents with personal information?
After the free tools
Sized the job? Start on the documents.
The free trial takes your own documents through the same pipeline. If you would rather talk it through first, book a 20-minute demo.
100 free trial credits for 14 days: up to 10 documents of up to 25 pages each, at Levels 1 and 2, no card needed. You are not charged for a file that fails verification.