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Free PDF Accessibility Checker

Is your PDF
AODA compliant?

Ontario's AODA requires all PDFs on your website to meet WCAG 2.0 AA. Upload any document for a free instant check — no account needed.

Jan 1, 2012

AODA PDF deadline

Documents published after this date must be WCAG 2.0 AA

WCAG 2.0 AA

Required standard

Ontario Regulation 191/11, s.14 — applies to all organizations

$100K/day

Maximum fine

Corporate fines for AODA non-compliance under the AODA Act

Drop a PDF here or click to upload

Free · No sign-up · Maximum 8 MB · WCAG 2.0 AA + Ontario AODA

What we check

Tagged PDF

Structure tags for screen reader navigation

Document title

Title metadata for assistive technology

Language declaration

Correct pronunciation and braille output

Bookmarks

Navigation for documents 5+ pages

Form field labels

Labels for every interactive field

Image alt text

Alternative text for embedded images

AODA PDF Accessibility Requirements — Frequently Asked Questions

Does AODA require my PDFs to be accessible?

Yes. Ontario Regulation 191/11 (the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation) requires all organizations with one or more employees to make documents published to the web after January 1, 2012 accessible. PDFs must meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA. This applies to menus, forms, reports, brochures, and any other PDF hosted on your website.

What WCAG criteria apply to PDFs under AODA?

AODA requires WCAG 2.0 Level AA. For PDFs, this means: the document must be tagged so screen readers can navigate it; all images must have alt text; the document language must be declared; heading structure must be logical; form fields must have labels; and the reading order must match the visual order. Scanned PDFs (image-only) are not accessible and must be remediated.

Are all Ontario organizations required to comply?

All organizations with at least one employee — public sector, private sector, and non-profit — are required to comply. Large organizations (50+ employees) had a January 1, 2016 deadline for internet and intranet documents. Small organizations (1–49 employees) had a January 1, 2021 deadline. New PDFs published after these dates must be accessible at the time of posting.

What is the fine for having inaccessible PDFs on my website?

Fines under the AODA can reach $100,000 per day for corporations. The Ontario government has been increasing enforcement as the 2026 review deadline approaches. Beyond fines, inaccessible documents expose organizations to human rights complaints under the Ontario Human Rights Code, which can result in additional damages and legal costs.

How do I fix an inaccessible PDF?

The two most common tools are Adobe Acrobat Pro (use the Accessibility Checker and the Tags panel to add structure) and the free PAC 2024 tool from the PDF Accessibility Checker project. For scanned documents, you must first run OCR to convert image text to real text, then add tags and alt text. Our checker identifies exactly which criteria are failing so you know where to start.