Enable Acrobat Sign to tag uploaded PDFs for accessibility

Automatically tag uploaded PDF fields for screen reader accessibility

Acrobat Sign can automatically tag certain types of PDF documents for accessibility, helping your organization with faster tagging and improving usability for recipients using screen readers or keyboard navigation. This feature reduces the burden of manual tagging—especially for scanned and untagged PDFs—delivering a seamless experience for senders and an inclusive, accessible experience for recipients.

Benefits

For senders:

• No need to tag PDFs in Acrobat before uploading.
• Tagging is persistent across all stages of the agreement lifecycle.
• As with all Acrobat Sign features, this solution is: 
  • Secure – Hosted within Adobe’s trusted infrastructure 
  • Private – Adheres to Adobe’s data privacy standards
  • Compliant – Meets legal and regulatory requirements for digital agreements

For organizations:

• Enhanced conformance with accessibility laws (Section 508, ADA, WCAG).
• Reduces reliance on third-party for tagging services.
• Makes digital transformation easier and more inclusive.

Configuration

Availability:

• Acrobat Standard and Acrobat Pro: Not Configurable
• Acrobat Sign Solutions: Supported
• Acrobat Sign for Government: Not Supported

Configuration scope:

This feature can be configured at the account and group level. Learn more about admin access controls.

Access this feature by navigating the administrator's configuration menu to Send Settings > Improve accessibly of PDFs agreements

How it works

When enabled, Acrobat Sign evaluates the uploaded PDF and creates or updates the tag tree to include:

• Proper heading structure.
• Correct tab order.
• Persistent accessibility tags throughout signing and post-signing.

Workflows

Auto-tagging applies to Request Signature workflows generated in the web application (API support is not yet available).

Supported document types

Auto-tagging applies to these PDF types:

• Scanned PDFs: Converted to text using OCR, then tagged.
• Flat PDFs: Text-based PDFs without a tag tree. Tagged using accessibility models.

Word documents are excluded. Word files are automatically tagged as they are converted to PDFs when uploaded.

Upload scenarios

Limitations

• Image contrast and alternative text for images are not currently included.
• Complex tables or nested structures may require manual remediation.
• Scanned documents if they have no more than three pages.