PDF files make up most of the research submitted to Digital Commons repositories. The PDF Accessibility Checker shows you how accessible that content is to your site's visitors and where improvements can have a real impact.

When the checker is enabled, newly submitted PDFs are evaluated against WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1) standards. Each check produces an accessibility report with a score, the specific issues found, and steps to fix them.

The checker identifies up to a total of 38 possible criteria, depending on the elements present in each document. It doesn't change or fix files, and it never blocks publication. Each report provides guidance that you or your authors can use to remediate any issues and submit a revision, which generates a new report.

The checker is available to all Digital Commons customers, including journals, at no additional cost. It's off by default, and administrators decide where to enable it in the repository.

How the Checker Works

Below is a summary of the steps in the checker workflow for administrators and authors. The remaining sections in this guide contain details for each step.

Your workflow as an administrator

1. Enable the checker by structure type on the site-level Configuration page.
2. If needed, change the setting for individual structures.
3. Submissions are checked automatically after they are submitted, whether they come from authors, from you or your editors, or from batch upload.
4. Review results in Manage Submissions, the Submission Metadata page, the View Revisions page, and open or download the full report for any submission.
5. To improve a score, revise the submission with a corrected PDF. The revised file is checked automatically.

What authors experience

1. The author submits a PDF, or a Word document that is converted to PDF, through the submission form as usual.
2. After the form is submitted, the checker evaluates the file automatically.
3. When the check finishes, the author receives an email with a link to the accessibility report, unless an administrator or editor submitted on the author’s behalf (including batch upload) — in those cases, no email is sent.
4. Regardless of who submitted the work, the author can open the report from the author portal (via My Account), in the Revision History for the submission, and can download it as CSV or PDF.
5. To improve the score, the author fixes issues using the report's "How to fix" guidance, ideally working in the original file (typically a Word document), and submits a revision. The revised file is checked automatically.

Key features

• Lets you choose which repository structure types are checked, with an override for individual structures.
• Evaluates the primary PDF file of each new submission (including PDFs auto-converted from Word documents) against WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA, scoring up to 35 automated criteria.
• Lists three suggested manual review items on every report, similar to other accessibility tools: Logical Reading Order, Color Contrast, and Language of Passages.
• Runs on every upload path: author submissions, administrator/editor submissions, batch upload, and revisions that include a file.
• Provides an HTML report with findings, "How to fix" guidance, and WCAG or PDF/UA references. The report can be downloaded as CSV or PDF.
• Emails authors a link to their report (when authors upload themselves) and shows them results in the author portal.

Enable at Site Level by Structure Type

The checker is off by default. To turn it on, select the structure types where you'd like to enable the checker:

1. Go to the site Configuration page.
2. In the Accessibility section, under Apply to, select the checkbox for each structure type you want checked: ETD, Series, Book, Journal, or Event Community.
3. Select Save Changes on the Configuration page.

Selecting a structure type turns checking on for every structure of that type. Image galleries aren't included because they accept only image files, not PDFs. Enabling the checker applies to new submissions only; existing submissions are not checked.

Tips for getting started:

• Start small if you'd like. Leave the site-level boxes cleared and turn the checker on for a single structure first (see the next section) to see how reports look before rolling it out more widely.
• Connect to existing resources. Checker results are most effective when they fit into an institution’s broader accessibility ecosystem. If your institution has an accessibility office, share report findings with them and see if they have workflows or tools to help with remediation. If authors don’t already receive accessibility guidance at the institution, you may share the Accessibility Hub Resources & Tools page with authors. 

Change the Setting for Individual Structures

Each structure has its own Accessibility setting that can override the site-level choice. For example, you can turn the checker on for all journals except one, or leave it off site-wide and turn it on for a single pilot structure.

1. Open the Configuration page for the structure.
2. In the Accessibility section, choose an option from the PDF Accessibility Checker menu.
3. Select Save Changes on the Configuration page.

View Results and Reports

Where to find results

As an administrator or editor, you can find accessibility results in several convenient locations.

Manage Submissions:

The Accessibility Check Results column shows the check date and the criteria met for each submission, with a link to the full report.

Metadata summary on the Submission Details page:

Shows the accessibility check date, the score, and a View Report link. Note when revising: The report does not appear in the post-revision metadata confirmation; select Submission Details in the sidebar to see the full metadata summary pictured below.

View Revisions page:

The Accessibility column in the Revision History table shows the score and a See report link for each checked revision.

What authors see

Authors receive an email with a link to the report when the check finishes, unless an administrator or editor submitted on their behalf (including batch upload) — in those cases, no email is sent. Regardless of who submitted the work, authors can open the report from the author portal (via My Account), in the Revision History for the submission, and see the same report you do.

What's in the report

The report opens as an HTML page that is accessible to screen reader users.

The report lists every requirement the checker evaluated, along with its result. For each requirement, you'll see what was checked, details about what was found, the pages impacted, and the related WCAG or PDF/UA guideline. Each failed or manual review item also includes “How to fix” steps (typically using Adobe Acrobat) and a help center link with more tips and details about that requirement.

To keep a copy, select Download report and choose CSV or PDF. Detailed reports are available for 12 months after the check. The report can be generated again, if needed, by revising the submission with a PDF or Word file.

How scores work

Each requirement in the report has one of four results:

The checker identifies 38 total criteria, including the three manual review items and up to 35 criteria scored for each document. A score such as 30/33 means 30 requirements passed, 3 failed, and 2 were not applicable (35 minus 2 gives a total of 33). Leaving out not applicable items means a document isn't penalized for features it doesn't have. The three manual review items are separate and never affect the score.

Resources for fixing issues in a PDF

If you or an author need help fixing an issue:

• Start with the report's "How to fix" steps. They are included for all failed or manual review items.
• Structural issues, such as headings, bookmarks, tables, and reading order, are usually easiest to fix in the original file (often a Word document). Make the change there, re-export to PDF, and submit it as a revision.
• The Accessibility Hub in this Help Center has resources for common accessibility issues.
• Your library or institutional accessibility office may offer additional guidance and tools for PDF remediation.
• Authors may also find help from their institution for the software they use, such as Word, Adobe Acrobat, or LaTeX.

When Checks Run

Checks run after an author, administrator, or editor submits the submission form with a PDF (or a Word document, which is converted to PDF). They don't run at the point the file is uploaded in the upload field. Checks also run on primary files imported through batch upload and on revisions that include a file. The check is done on the file before Digital Commons adds its cover page, footer URL, page numbers, and pagination, so those never affect scoring.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the checker fix my PDFs?

No. The checker identifies and reports issues only. It doesn't change your file or create new versions. Use the "How to fix" steps in each report to address any issues, or see the resources above.

Does a passing score mean my content is ADA or European Accessibility Act compliant?

No. A high score means the file met the criteria built into the checker, not that it meets legal requirements. Human review is still needed, including the three manual review items. For compliance determinations, check with your institution's accessibility or legal office.

Will the checker evaluate content that's already in my repository?

Not at this time. The checker applies to new submissions after you enable it. Checking existing content in bulk is being explored for a future release.

Why isn't my score out of 35?

Requirements that don't apply to a document are left out of its score, so each document is scored only on what it contains. A document with no tables, for example, will be scored out of fewer than 35. This is normal.

Why doesn't a submission have a result?

Check these, in order: (1) the site Configuration page, to see whether the structure type is selected; (2) the structure's Accessibility menu, since Disable overrides the site setting; (3) whether the submission was made before the checker was enabled; (4) whether the file is a scanned or image-only PDF that hasn’t been run through OCR; (5) whether the file is a supplemental file, which isn't checked; and (6) whether the revision changed only metadata. If none of these apply, contact Consulting Services with the manuscript title and location.

Why didn't an author receive an email?

Admin uploads (including batch) don't send the email, though the result is still available in the author portal. For author submissions, check that the author's email address on the submission is correct and that the message didn't land in a spam folder. If the address is correct and the author still didn't receive it, contact Consulting Services with the manuscript title and location.

Why does a revision show no score?

A revision that changes only metadata, with the PDF untouched, doesn't trigger a new check, and the earlier result stays with the last PDF submitted. A revision that includes a file, even an identical one, is checked.

Can I recheck a PDF after making fixes?

Yes, as many times as you need. Revise the submission and upload the corrected file, and it will be checked automatically. If you upload the same file again, it is checked again and returns the same score.

The score is high, but the PDF still isn't accessible. Why?

The three manual review items (Logical Reading Order, Color Contrast, and Language of Passages) are never scored and need a human check, and some issues fall outside the automated criteria. A manual pass, for example with Adobe Acrobat's accessibility tools, may catch what the checker can't.

Does the checker check color contrast?

Not automatically. Color contrast appears on every report as a manual review item. Tools such as WebAIM's contrast checker or TPGi Colour Contrast Analyser can help you verify it. Default PDF and Word conversion settings generally produce acceptable contrast in typical documents.

Does the checker work on scanned documents or handwritten text?

Not currently. Scanned and image-only PDFs aren't supported for automated evaluation and will not generate a report. We recommend running OCR before submitting so the text can be evaluated.

Does the Digital Commons cover page or footer affect the score?

No. The check runs on the PDF file before the cover page, footer URL, page numbers, and pagination are added, so none of them are scored.

Why does "Pages impacted" say "Document level"?

Either the finding applies to the document as a whole, or page-level reporting isn't available for that particular check yet. The finding details sometimes name specific pages or locations, so read those for more help.

Can I keep a copy of a report?

Yes. Select Download report on the report page and choose CSV or PDF. The report page itself is HTML.

Where can I see which requirements the checker evaluates?

Every report lists each requirement that was evaluated, along with its result.

Where do the criteria come from?

The criteria are based on recognized accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1). PDF/UA-1 checks follow the Matterhorn Protocol, the PDF Association's testing framework for PDF accessibility. Each report lists the requirements that were evaluated, with the related WCAG or PDF/UA guideline, so you can see how every result ties back to a published standard.

Which versions of WCAG and PDF/UA does the checker use?

The checker evaluates PDFs against WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1). These correspond to the requirements of the ADA Title II (April 2027) rule.

Does the checker use AI?

Where AI plays a role in the checker's reporting, we say so clearly in the product. We're committed to being transparent about how the tool works so you can interpret results with full context.

Will a low score affect how my content is discovered?

It can. A missing text layer, poor document structure, or an absent language tag can affect how search engines and harvesters read a file, and the checker flags all three. Fixing such issues — preferably in the original file before converting to PDF — can help the content reach more readers.

How long are reports available?

The detailed report is available for 12 months after the check. The overall score and the check date are kept indefinitely and stay in Manage Submissions, but after 12 months the link to the full report no longer appears. To get a new detailed report, revise the submission with the corrected PDF, and it will be checked automatically. If you want a longer-term copy of a report, select Download report and save it.