# Checking PDF documents (PDF/UA)

**Category:** [Accessibility](https://help.totalctrl.app/hc/totalctrl/totalctrl-help-center/en-US/categories/accessibility-1)
**Updated:** 2026-10-04

## Accessibility isn't only web pages

Reports, forms, and statements you publish as PDFs must be accessible too. The **PDF Documents** section checks a PDF against **PDF/UA (ISO 14289)** — the accessibility standard for PDFs, referenced by Section 508 and EN 301 549.
## Check a PDF

- Click **New Project** and choose **PDF** — give it a name (no URL needed). A PDF project can hold one or many documents.
- Open the project and click **Upload PDF**.
- The document is checked automatically. You'll get a **score**, a verdict, and a list of results.

## What's checked automatically

Tagging (a real structure tree), document language, a meaningful title shown in the title bar, the PDF/UA identifier, whether the text is real (not a scanned image), image alternate text, and that encryption doesn't block assistive technology. Each is marked *Pass*, *Fail*, or *N/A*.
## Manual review checklist

As with web pages, automated tools catch only part of the picture. The report includes a **manual review checklist** for the checkpoints that need human judgement — logical reading order, correct headings and tables, meaningful (not just present) alt text, colour contrast, and correctly tagged links and lists.
## Engines

When available, checks run on **veraPDF**, the ISO reference validator, for full coverage; otherwise a built-in structural checker covers the essentials. The report shows which engine ran.
## Export & tickets

From a finished PDF report you can **Export** an Excel workbook (Summary + Checkpoints tabs) — download it or save it to a connected cloud drive — and **Create ticket** to file the failures and manual-review checkpoints into an Issue Tracking project.
## The Automated score

The score (0–100) is the share of the *machine-checkable* PDF/UA requirements that passed. It doesn't count the manual-review checkpoints, so a high score is necessary but not sufficient for full conformance.
## Limits & privacy

PDF checks are subject to a **plan-controlled monthly limit** (never unlimited) — the same kind of allowance as web scans, set by your plan and shown when you reach it. Documents are processed privately and stored in your workspace; delete them any time from the document page.

---

## Related Articles

- [Scheduling, alerts & automation](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/accessibility-automation)
- [CLI & browser extension (developer tools)](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/accessibility-cli-and-extension-1)
- [Scan limits & fair use](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/accessibility-limits)
- [Getting started with Accessibility](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/accessibility-getting-started)
- [VPAT / ACR reports & Accessibility Statements](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/articles/accessibility-reports-2)

---
[← Back to TotalCtrl Help Center](https://help.totalctrl.app/en-US/)