Archived PDFs are a common fixture in many organizations—stored away for years, rarely opened, and often overlooked when it comes to digital accessibility. But in many cases, these documents still need to meet accessibility standards, regardless of their age or how frequently they’re used. And even if they’re scanned images, solutions like Equidox make remediation faster and easier than you might think.
Why Archived PDFs Still Matter
It’s easy to assume that “archived” means irrelevant or exempt from accessibility requirements. But if a PDF is still available online, discoverable through search, or can be requested by users, it is usually still considered active content. That means it must be accessible to people with disabilities under many laws around the world, including Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title II will take effect before the end of April 2026 for larger agencies, and April 2027 for smaller ones.
While Title II and other laws do allow exemptions from accessibility requirements for some archived content, not all infrequently used content is considered “archived.”
“Old” Doesn’t Always Mean Archived (or Exempt)
While some older PDFs might not be used as often as they once were, they aren’t automatically considered exempt from digital accessibility requirements. According to the ADA Title II “Final Rule,” PDFs aren’t considered “archived” unless they were created after the compliance deadline, only used for reference, kept in a special “archive” area of the website, AND haven’t been edited after the compliance deadline. PDFs that do not meet any of these criteria must be made accessible, no matter how many (or few) people access the content.
The European Accessibility Act (EAA) offers a similar exemption. Content created or edited after June 28, 2025 must be made accessible, and older content is exempt. New content must be made accessible even if it is only kept for reference purposes or otherwise considered “archived.”
Section 508 does offer exemptions for archived PDFs, but only when they are NOT public-facing. Only internal PDFs kept for records or reference are exempt. So, regardless of the age of the document, every public-facing PDF must be made accessible and compliant with WCAG 2.0.
Even PDFs buried deep in a website or internal repository can become an issue if someone with a disability needs them and can’t use them.
The Challenge: Scanned and Unstructured PDFs
Many archived PDFs, especially older ones, are scanned images of printed documents. They don’t contain selectable digital text, headings, or logical reading order. This makes them especially difficult to access with assistive technologies like screen readers, and time-consuming to remediate manually. Scanned documents require tools with optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities to identify content and translate an image into usable text.
The Solution: Equidox
That’s where Equidox comes in. Equidox offers intelligent PDF remediation software designed to convert any PDF—including scanned image files—into accessible, compliant documents quickly and efficiently. Using AI-powered features, Equidox software helps users detect text, headings, lists, tables, and reading order—even in scanned or untagged documents. It eliminates the need to manually add or edit tags within a tag tree. And the software is designed to make it easy for new users to learn and remediate documents.
For large batches of archived content, the fully automated solution, Equidox AI remediates hundreds or thousands of templated or batch-produced documents at scale. This is especially helpful for organizations managing large digital archives and corporations with compliance obligations. Equidox enables you to respond to requests faster and even tackle long-term remediation projects proactively.
Proactive Compliance
You don’t need to remediate every archived file all at once. A practical strategy is to start with high-demand or frequently requested documents and work from there. With Equidox, you can prioritize and streamline this process, even for scanned files that would otherwise be considered too difficult or expensive to remediate.
Not All Archives are “Out of Sight, Out of Mind”
Archived PDFs are not off the hook when it comes to accessibility. If they’re public, requested, updated, or still relevant, they need to be accessible. With Equidox, even the most stubborn scanned PDFs can be remediated quickly and accurately, helping organizations meet legal requirements, support inclusivity, and future-proof their digital archives.
Nina Overdorff
Nina comes to Equidox with years of sales and marketing experience from a variety of industries and holds a BS in Language Arts Education. Nina has a passion for words, storytelling, and information, which she believes everyone should have access to regardless of ability. After spending time as a teacher with a blind student, she became much more aware of the limitations and abilities of web accessibility, and how essential it is to those experiencing disabilities. “Being able to access information equally ensures that everyone has an equal opportunity for education, employment, and success in life.”
Let’s talk!
Speak with an expert to learn how Equidox solutions make PDF accessibility easy.