Summary
Automated checkers verify structural tags, but screen reader testing ensures actual usability. This guide details how to test remediated PDFs using NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver so that organizations ensure their documents are truly accessible to blind users.
Video transcript
foreign PDF accessibility Solutions reach everyone screen readers accessibility can be seen every day in things such as handicap parking spaces closed captioning on your television or textured Pavements one of the greatest barriers for people who are blind or have low vision is access to written information if you cannot see or cannot see well reading can be a difficult or insurmountable task this can make using computers smartphones and the internet something most of us do every day very difficult if not impossible people who have low vision or are blind may have a wide variety of visual perception they may have some Vision but still be unable to read print or text on a screen due to color blindness blurry vision tunnel vision or even Vision within a regularly obscured field they may be able to detect light or shadow or they may see nothing at all and many people who are blind or have low vision are able to get around and function within their environment but still are unable to see clearly enough to read screen readers are the most common tools for accessing digital information that are used by people who are blind or have low vision people who have dyslexia learning disabilities temporary disabilities such as concussion other print disabilities such as stroke or brain injuries and people who prefer learning through auditory formats also use screen readers they provide the information by reading aloud digitally coded content contained within the digital documents and websites many blind people also use connected Braille displays which convert the data provided by the screen reader into Braille Braille is the only way for a person who is deaf-blind to access digital information fortunately screen readers are built into much of our technology now from your television Hardware to game consoles to smartphones and you will find screen reading technology available on computers laptops and tablets however screen readers do not see what is on the screen they read aloud information provided digitally by means of digital encoding for PDF documents this encoding is called Tags because the screen readers rely on these digital tags and not the visual content to read the information aloud sometimes what a cited person sees is not what a blind or partially cited person gets the tags must be applied correctly in order for the content to be accurately relayed by the screen reader tags serve many functions they communicate structure and relationships to assistive technology some are for headings so a person using a screen reader can skim through the content much as a sighted person would do with newspaper headlines without headings a person using a screen reader would have to read every single word to find a specific piece of information some tags describe images since people using assistive technology often cannot see what they depict other tags are for reading order so that the content is not read out of order just adding an extra line or a paragraph to your document can throw off the digital reading order even if it is visually in the correct place understanding how content needs to be tagged is part of learning to produce accessible documents applications and websites let’s examine this document using a screen reader we have chosen to use nvda as it is a free download available to anyone here’s what happens when a screen reader attempts to read a PDF document that is entirely untagged PDF sample as image.pdf alert empty document this document appears to be empty it may be a scanned image that needs OCR or it may be a malformed document if you are blind or have low vision you will get no usable information of any kind about this document even when a document is tagged it’s important that it be tagged correctly let’s have another look at the same document this time tagged but only partially this document is not properly tagged and you will see some of the common issues faced by people using assistive technology to access digital information we will be using the Tab Key to move around the document and we will move ahead before all content is read in some cases you will also see the text being read highlighted on the page and we will show the nvda viewer so that you can see what the screen reader is perceiving digitally as it reads aloud note also that there are many voices available to be used with screen readers and they can read at great speed if the person using the technology is able to keep up much like a sighted person would speed read for this demonstration we have chosen a human sounding voice and set it to a normal conversational speed graphic notice that the screen reader has not identified this image other than to say graphic a person using the screen reader will have no idea what this graphic is heading level 1 save up to 90 on time and resources this content has been read out of order an entire section of text has been skipped equidox has helped to improve our remediate inaccessible PDFs quickly and easily this text has not been identified as a heading and again content read out of order graphic rectangle graphic rectangle equidox services graphic box graphic box graphic box these descriptions of background rectangles are unnecessary and confusing they should not be included heading level 2 conversion Services heading level 2 vpats evaluation and completion heading level 2 accessibility Services equidox team remediates your PDFs testing training Consulting and again content read out of order graphic logo graphic logo visit www.equadocs.co or email equidox sales onyxnet.com within this short document we have found the following errors images with no alt text description text with incorrect reading order unidentified headings unnecessary background objects announced that are confusing visually this document is perfectly comprehensible but because it lacks correct digital tagging a person using assistive technology such as a braille display or screen reader is not going to get an equivalent experience and more importantly isn’t going to get all the information screen readers are a valuable tool for people who are blind or who have low vision but they are only as good as the digital encoding in the documents and web pages that they are accessing for more information about how equidox software company can help you with PDF accessibility email us at equidox sales equidox.co or give us a call at 216-529-3030 or visit our website at www.equidox.co
A college student who is blind has just downloaded a course syllabus as a PDF. They use a screen reader to navigate digital content. They open the document expecting to find the course schedule, assignment deadlines, and information about the final exam.
Instead, the screen reader starts reading the document in an unexpected order. It announces a page number, then a sentence from the middle of the page, then jumps to a sidebar.
A table of assignment dates reads as a confusing series of numbers with no indication of which date belongs to which assignment. An important image has no description at all.
The student has to stop, figure out what went wrong, and try to piece the information together. What might take a sighted student a few seconds to find can take several minutes, or may be impossible to understand without assistance. And this slows them down and can make them miss important information and deadlines. It puts them at a severe disadvantage compared to the sighted students.
This scenario happens hundreds of times in universities and colleges all around the country. This is why testing a remediated PDF with a screen reader matters. Automated checkers and accessibility checklists are valuable, but they cannot tell you everything about the actual user experience. A PDF can pass automated checks and still be frustrating or confusing to navigate. The best way to find those problems is to experience the document the way a screen reader user does.
Start by Forgetting the Tag Tree
After remediation, it is tempting to open the PDF in an accessibility checker, look at the tags, confirm that the errors are gone, and call the document finished.
Do not stop there.
A screen reader user does not experience your PDF as a collection of tags. They experience it as a sequence of information, navigation options, headings, links, tables, images, and interactive elements.
Your goal during screen reader testing is therefore simple:
Can someone who cannot see the page understand and navigate the document without needing help?
You do not need to become a screen reader expert to perform useful testing. You need to know what to listen for, what to navigate, and what questions to ask. For this walkthrough, we will focus on three commonly used screen readers:
NVDA is free and is an excellent starting point for organizations that need a practical way to test PDFs. NVDA’s official documentation provides current user guides and keyboard commands.
JAWS is widely used on Windows, so include it in your testing when your organization supports users who rely on it.
VoiceOver comes built into macOS and gives users extensive keyboard navigation and reading commands. Apple also provides an interactive VoiceOver tutorial for learning the basics.
Step 1: Open the PDF and Listen Before You Do Anything
Start with a simple test.
Turn on your screen reader and open the remediated PDF. Do not immediately start jumping between headings or using shortcuts.
Let the screen reader begin reading the document. Listen to the first page. Ask yourself:
- Does the document begin in a logical place?
- Is the title announced?
- Is the introductory information read in the right order?
- Are headers, footers, and page numbers appearing where you expect them?
- Is anything important skipped?
- Is anything repeated unnecessarily?
- Does the reading order make sense?
This is one of the most important tests you can perform.
A PDF may look perfect visually while its underlying reading order is completely wrong. A sighted reviewer can see that the title is at the top, the body text is underneath it, and a sidebar appears on the right. A screen reader does not automatically understand that visual relationship.
It relies on the document’s underlying structure. If the reading order is wrong, fix that before moving on.
Step 2: Navigate by Headings
Next, stop reading the document linearly and try navigating by headings.
This is how many experienced screen reader users move through long documents. Rather than listening to every paragraph, they can jump from heading to heading to quickly understand the structure and find the section containing the information they need.
In NVDA, for example, users can navigate through headings using heading navigation commands. JAWS provides similar heading navigation.
Ask: Can I understand the structure of this document just by moving through its headings?
Imagine you are looking for the section titled “Assignment Schedule.”
Can you get there quickly?
Are the headings announced correctly?
Do they make sense when heard without the surrounding visual design?
A good heading structure should provide a meaningful outline of the document.
For example:
- Course Information
- Required Materials
- Course Policies
- Assignments
- Assignment 1
- Assignment 2
- Final Project
- Course Schedule
- Contact Information
If the screen reader announces headings as ordinary text, headings are probably not tagged correctly.
If it announces decorative text as headings, the document may have too many headings.
If the heading levels jump around unnecessarily, the document structure may also need attention.
The important question is not simply whether headings exist. It is whether they help someone navigate the PDF.
Step 3: Test the Reading Order
Now return to the beginning of the document and read through several pages. Pay particular attention to complicated layouts.
Look for:
- Two-column pages
- Sidebars
- Text boxes
- Pull quotes
- Captions
- Headers and footers
- Tables
- Lists
- Charts
- Forms
Ask yourself whether the information is being presented in the same logical sequence that a sighted reader would follow.
Consider a two-column newsletter.
Visually, the reader may read the entire left column before moving to the right column. But if the PDF has the wrong reading order, the screen reader may jump between columns or combine unrelated elements.
You are listening for those interruptions. If you find yourself thinking, “I know what this means because I can see the page,” stop and consider what the experience would be like without the visual information. That is exactly the perspective you need during testing. Some testers will turn off their monitor during testing for a fully accurate experience.
Step 4: Test Lists
Lists are easy to overlook because they often look fine visually.
Listen to how the screen reader announces them.
Does it identify the content as a list?
Does it indicate the number of items?
Are individual list items grouped logically?
For example, a visual list might contain:
- Submit the application.
- Upload your transcript.
- Provide two references.
- Pay the application fee.
A screen reader user should be able to understand that these items belong together and that they are part of an ordered sequence.
Bulleted lists should also be identified as lists rather than being read as unrelated lines of text.
Step 5: Test Tables Like a User
Tables deserve special attention.
A table may look completely understandable visually because you can look across a row and see the relationship between the information. A screen reader user needs the underlying tag structure to communicate the relationships between column and row headers and the cells. Find a table in your PDF and navigate through it. Listen carefully.
Can you tell when you have entered a table?
Can you identify the column headings?
As you move from cell to cell, can you understand which heading applies to the information you are hearing?
Consider a course schedule:
| Date | Assignment | Due Time |
| September 10 | Essay 1 | 11:59 PM |
| September 17 | Reading Response | 11:59 PM |
A sighted reader immediately understands the relationship between the dates, assignments, and times.
A screen reader user needs the table structure to communicate those relationships.
This is why you should test tables rather than simply check whether the tags are correct.
Navigate through it and listen to what the screen reader actually says.
Step 6: Test Links
Next, test every important link. Do not simply check that the link works. Listen to how the screen reader announces the link.
A link called “Click here” does not tell a screen reader user where the link is going when heard out of context.
A link labeled “Download the Student Handbook” is much more meaningful.
Try navigating through the links in the document.
Ask:
- Are links identified as links?
- Do their names make sense?
- Are duplicate links understandable?
- Does the link destination work?
- Are URLs read unnecessarily?
- Are decorative or nonfunctional elements announced as links?
Good link text should make sense when heard on its own.
Step 7: Test Images and Alt Text
Now find every meaningful image. Listen to how the screen reader handles it.
Does it announce the image?
If the image contains meaningful information, does the alternative text communicate that information?
This is where testing with a screen reader becomes particularly valuable. Suppose a PDF contains a chart showing enrollment growth. The chart may look obvious to a sighted reviewer. But if the screen reader simply says “image,” the user has no access to the information conveyed by the chart.
On the other hand, decorative images generally should not create unnecessary interruptions. Set extraneous images that are purely decorative, and repeated images such as logos in a header or footer as artifacts, so the screen reader user doesn’t need to hear them on every page.
Ask: Does this image need to be communicated to the user? If so, does the description provide the information they need?
Do not write alt text simply to satisfy a checkbox. Test whether it actually communicates the purpose of the image.
Step 8: Test Forms and Interactive Elements
If your PDF contains forms, perform a complete form test. Navigate from field to field using the keyboard and screen reader.
Listen for:
- Field names
- Field types
- Instructions
- Required fields
- Checkboxes
- Radio buttons
- Dropdown menus
- Buttons
- Error messages
Try completing the form without looking at the screen.
Can you tell what information belongs in each field?
Can you tell what formatting is requested for a field that requests a date or phone number?
Can you tell whether a checkbox is selected?
Can you move through the form in a logical order?
Can you submit it?
This is a particularly important test because a form can appear perfectly usable visually while being extremely difficult to complete with assistive technology.
Step 9: Test the Document Without Looking at the Screen
This is one of the most useful exercises you can perform. Once you are comfortable with the basic screen reader controls, close your eyes or look away from the monitor. Or turn off the monitor. Try to complete a simple task using the PDF.
For example:
Find the deadline for the final project.
Or:
Find the phone number for the accessibility office.
Or:
Find the third requirement in the application process.
Do not use your eyes to locate the answer. Instead, use the screen reader’s navigation capabilities. If you can find the information efficiently, that is a good sign. If you find yourself constantly needing to look at the screen to figure out where you are, something may be wrong with the document’s structure or navigation.
This exercise changes the question from “Does the PDF pass an accessibility checker?” to “Can someone actually use it?”
Step 10: Test More Than One Screen Reader
Ideally, test your PDFs with more than one screen reader.
NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver do not always behave identically. Differences in screen readers, PDF viewers, operating systems, and document structures can affect the user experience. That does not mean every organization needs to perform exhaustive testing with every possible combination. Instead, establish a practical testing matrix based on the technology your audience actually uses.
For example:
Windows users: NVDA and JAWS
Mac users: VoiceOver
If your organization serves a large or diverse audience, consider including actual screen reader users in usability testing.
The W3C recommends combining automated testing with human evaluation and notes that usability testing with people with disabilities can reveal problems that conformance testing alone may not identify.
Step 11: Keep a Simple Testing Record
Screen reader testing becomes much more useful when you document what you find. You do not need a complicated system. Create a simple record containing:
Document: Course Catalog.pdf
Screen reader: NVDA
PDF viewer: Your selected viewer
Date tested: September 2026
Result: Pass / Needs remediation
Issues found:
- Reading order is incorrect on page 12
- Table headers not announced correctly on page 18
- Chart on page 24 needs meaningful alternative text
- Link text on page 31 is ambiguous
This gives your remediation team a clear list of corrections. After making the changes, test the document again. Sometimes fixing one problem introduces other issues.
What About Automated Accessibility Checkers?
Automated checkers are still important. They can identify many structural and technical problems quickly and consistently. They can also make remediation workflows much more efficient. But automated testing and screen reader testing serve different purposes.
Think of it this way:
Automated testing asks: “Does the PDF have the required accessibility structures?”
Screen reader testing asks: “Can a person actually use those structures?”
You need both.
A document can have correctly tagged headings and still have a confusing reading order. A table can be tagged but still be difficult to navigate. An image can have alt text that technically exists but does not communicate the information a user needs. That is why post-remediation screen reader testing should be part of your quality assurance process.
A Practical Final Test
Before you release a remediated PDF, put yourself in the position of someone who needs to accomplish something with the document.
Do not ask only:
“Did we fix the tags?”
Ask:
Can I find the information I need?
Can I understand the structure?
Can I navigate without seeing the page?
Can I understand the tables and lists?
Can I identify meaningful images?
Can I follow the links?
Can I complete the forms?
Can I move through the document without getting lost?
If the answer to those questions is yes, you are much closer to delivering a PDF that is not only technically remediated, but genuinely usable.
Accessibility Testing Is About the Experience
PDF accessibility is ultimately about giving people equivalent access to information. Compliance standards and automated testing provide an essential framework for achieving that goal. WCAG success criteria are designed to be testable, but the W3C also distinguishes conformance testing from usability and recommends usability testing in addition to functional evaluation.
The most effective remediation process therefore does not end when the last accessibility error disappears. It ends when you have confidence that a person using assistive technology can open the document, understand its structure, navigate to the information they need, and complete the task the document was designed to support. That is the real purpose of testing a remediated PDF.
Do not just test the PDF. Use it as your users do.
Tammy Albee
Tammy Albee | Director of Marketing | Equidox Tammy joined Equidox after four years of experience working at the National Federation of the Blind. She firmly maintains that accessibility is about reaching everyone, regardless of ability, and boosting your market share in the process. "Nobody should be barred from accessing information. It's what drives our modern society."