Document accessibility, a working demonstration

ADA document remediation for the 2027 deadline

Under the ADA Title II web accessibility rule, covered public web content and mobile apps are expected to meet WCAG 2.1 AA by April 26, 2027, subject to specified exceptions. We modified several public Berkeley PDFs to demonstrate part of the remediation process. The counts below are veraPDF PDF/UA-1 results.

Biosciences

Several public PDFs we found do not pass veraPDF's PDF/UA-1 validation. We remediated three of them for demonstration purposes.

3
Demonstration documents
6
Distinct PDF/UA-1 rule types failing (before)
3,965
Failed checks (before)
0
PDF/UA-1 rule failures after automated validation
First page of the Organization Chart (August 2026) document, Biosciences Divisional Services
Organization Chart (August 2026)
Biosciences Divisional Services · 5 pages
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (1,033 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (645 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
1,682 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Honors Thesis Approval Form document, Molecular & Cell Biology
Honors Thesis Approval Form
Molecular & Cell Biology · 1 page
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (889 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (867 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
1,760 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Policy on Switching Labs document, Graduate Group in Endocrinology
Policy on Switching Labs
Graduate Group in Endocrinology · 2 pages
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (260 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (259 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
523 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy

Integrative Biology has moved most of its forms to online submission; we can produce a sample from one of its current public documents on request.

Department of Philosophy

Philosophy's student-facing forms and requirements documents are public PDFs, and several do not pass veraPDF's PDF/UA-1 validation. Three we remediated:

3
Demonstration documents
10
Distinct PDF/UA-1 rule types failing (before)
1,767
Failed checks (before)
0
PDF/UA-1 rule failures after automated validation
First page of the Petition for Honors document, Department of Philosophy
Petition for Honors
Department of Philosophy · 1 page
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (592 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (345 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
941 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Undergraduate Major Requirements Checklist document, Department of Philosophy
Undergraduate Major Requirements Checklist
Department of Philosophy · 1 page
Before
10 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (188 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (188 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
  • An annotation, excluding annotations of subtype Widget, PrinterMark or Link, shall be nested within an Annot tag (1 check) · clause 7.18.1.1
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • Every page on which there is an annotation shall contain in its page dictionary the key Tabs, and its value shall be S (1 check) · clause 7.18.3.1
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • Natural language in the Contents entry for annotations shall be determined (1 check) · clause 7.2.24
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • An annotation (except Widget annotations or hidden annotations, or those having rectangle outside the crop-box) shall have either Contents key or an Alt entry in the enclosing structure element (1 check) · clause 7.18.1.2
384 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Declaration of Intent to Complete the Logic Minor document, Department of Philosophy
Declaration of Intent to Complete the Logic Minor
Department of Philosophy · 1 page
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (288 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (150 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
442 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy

Sponsored Projects Office

The Sponsored Projects Office publishes many current forms and policies for research administration. Several are public PDFs that do not pass veraPDF's PDF/UA-1 validation. Three we remediated:

3
Demonstration documents
15
Distinct PDF/UA-1 rule types failing (before)
666
Failed checks (before)
0
PDF/UA-1 rule failures after automated validation
First page of the F&A (Indirect Cost) Rate Agreement, FY2024 document, Sponsored Projects Office
F&A (Indirect Cost) Rate Agreement, FY2024
Sponsored Projects Office · 5 pages
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (332 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • The font programs for all fonts used for rendering within a conforming file shall be embedded within that file, as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 9.9 (1 check) · clause 7.21.4.1.1
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
337 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the NIH Principal Investigator Assurance Certification Form document, Sponsored Projects Office
NIH Principal Investigator Assurance Certification Form
Sponsored Projects Office · 1 page
Before
8 rule types
  • If the Form element omits a Role attribute (Table 348), it shall have only one child: an object reference (14.7.4.3) identifying the widget annotation per ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.5, Table 340 (9 checks) · clause 7.18.4.2
  • Figure tags shall include an alternative representation or replacement text that represents the contents marked with the Figure tag as noted in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7.2, Table 323 (3 checks) · clause 7.3.1
  • Links shall contain an alternate description via their Contents key as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.9.3 (2 checks) · clause 7.18.5.2
  • An annotation (except Widget annotations or hidden annotations, or those having rectangle outside the crop-box) shall have either Contents key or an Alt entry in the enclosing structure element (2 checks) · clause 7.18.1.2
  • If the FontDescriptor dictionary of an embedded CID font contains a CIDSet stream, then it shall identify all CIDs which are present in the font program, regardless of whether a CID in the font is referenced or used by the PDF or not (1 check) · clause 7.21.4.2.2
  • For documents that are not strongly structured, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.3.5, heading tags shall be used as follows: (*) If any heading tags are used, H1 shall be the first. (*) A document may use more than one instance of any specific tag level. For example, a tag level may be repeated if document content requires it. (*) If document semantics require a descending sequence of headers, such a sequence shall proceed in strict numerical order and shall not skip an intervening heading level. (*) A document may increment its heading sequence without restarting at H1 if document semantics require it (1 check) · clause 7.4.2.1
  • The PDF/UA version and conformance level of a file shall be specified using the PDF/UA Identification extension schema (1 check) · clause 5.1
  • Links shall be tagged according to ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.4.2, Link Element (1 check) · clause 7.18.5.1
20 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Plan for a Safe and Inclusive Research Environment document, Sponsored Projects Office
Plan for a Safe and Inclusive Research Environment
Sponsored Projects Office · 3 pages
Before
8 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (274 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • A Widget annotation shall be nested within a Form tag per ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.5, Table 340 (9 checks) · clause 7.18.4.1
  • Links shall contain an alternate description via their Contents key as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.9.3 (7 checks) · clause 7.18.5.2
  • Links shall be tagged according to ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.4.2, Link Element (7 checks) · clause 7.18.5.1
  • An annotation (except Widget annotations or hidden annotations, or those having rectangle outside the crop-box) shall have either Contents key or an Alt entry in the enclosing structure element (7 checks) · clause 7.18.1.2
  • If the FontDescriptor dictionary of an embedded CID font contains a CIDSet stream, then it shall identify all CIDs which are present in the font program, regardless of whether a CID in the font is referenced or used by the PDF or not (3 checks) · clause 7.21.4.2.2
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The PDF/UA version and conformance level of a file shall be specified using the PDF/UA Identification extension schema (1 check) · clause 5.1
309 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy

How we help

A free sample from your own documents

We remediate one of your current public documents into a private evaluation copy, so you can see the work on a file you recognize. We touch no Berkeley system or source file.

Document (PDF) remediation

We tag structure, add alt text, and fix reading order and tables, then validate every file against veraPDF's PDF/UA-1 profile and return its validation record.

Website help, including Berkeley Web Builder

For units leaving Drupal 7, we can help inventory and prepare content for Berkeley Web Builder or another approved destination, then scope the cleanup, migration, and accessibility work that remains.

Review depth matched to the requested documentation

veraPDF validates machine-checkable PDF/UA-1 requirements. If a Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA determination is in scope, we define and complete the human, assistive-technology, and specialist review required before making that statement.

Deciding what is in scope

The rule exempts archived and certain preexisting documents, so part of your library is likely already fine. We sort your documents into remediate, archive, replace with a web page, or leave as exempt, then fix only what counts.

The same work across other Berkeley units

A few more of the university's public PDFs, from other departments, remediated the same way.

3
Demonstration documents
15
Distinct PDF/UA-1 rule types failing (before)
2,034
Failed checks (before)
0
PDF/UA-1 rule failures after automated validation
First page of the Campus Event Venues document, History Department
Campus Event Venues
History Department · 7 pages
Before
10 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (483 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (417 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • An annotation (except Widget annotations or hidden annotations, or those having rectangle outside the crop-box) shall have either Contents key or an Alt entry in the enclosing structure element (62 checks) · clause 7.18.1.2
  • Links shall contain an alternate description via their Contents key as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.9.3 (62 checks) · clause 7.18.5.2
  • Links shall be tagged according to ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.4.2, Link Element (62 checks) · clause 7.18.5.1
  • Every page on which there is an annotation shall contain in its page dictionary the key Tabs, and its value shall be S (7 checks) · clause 7.18.3.1
  • The Catalog dictionary of a conforming file shall contain the Metadata key whose value is a metadata stream as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.3.2. The metadata stream dictionary shall contain entry Type with value /Metadata and entry Subtype with value /XML (1 check) · clause 7.1.8
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
1,097 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Work Verification Form document, College of Engineering
Work Verification Form
College of Engineering · fillable form, 1 page
Before
10 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (259 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • Natural language for text in page content shall be determined (239 checks) · clause 7.2.34
  • A Widget annotation shall be nested within a Form tag per ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.8.4.5, Table 340 (9 checks) · clause 7.18.4.1
  • Natural language in the TU key for form fields shall be determined (9 checks) · clause 7.2.25
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • Every page on which there is an annotation shall contain in its page dictionary the key Tabs, and its value shall be S (1 check) · clause 7.18.3.1
  • The PDF/UA version and conformance level of a file shall be specified using the PDF/UA Identification extension schema (1 check) · clause 5.1
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
  • Natural language for document metadata shall be determined (1 check) · clause 7.2.33
522 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy
First page of the Freshman Admissions Profile Flyer (2020-21) document, Undergraduate Admissions
Freshman Admissions Profile Flyer (2020-21)
Undergraduate Admissions · 2 pages
Before
6 rule types
  • Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content (410 checks) · clause 7.1.3
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 6.2.1
  • The PDF/UA version and conformance level of a file shall be specified using the PDF/UA Identification extension schema (1 check) · clause 5.1
  • The logical structure of the conforming file shall be described by a structure hierarchy rooted in the StructTreeRoot entry of the document catalog dictionary, as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7 (1 check) · clause 7.1.11
  • The document catalog dictionary shall include a ViewerPreferences dictionary containing a DisplayDocTitle key, whose value shall be true (1 check) · clause 7.1.10
  • The Metadata stream in the document's catalog dictionary shall contain a dc:title entry, where dc is the recommended prefix for the Dublin Core metadata schema as defined in the XMP specification, which clearly identifies the document (1 check) · clause 7.1.9
415 failed checks
After
Passes automated PDF/UA-1 checks
Berkeley original Demo copy

Methodology. Each document was downloaded from a public UC Berkeley page, modified for this demonstration, and validated with veraPDF 1.28.2 against the PDF/UA-1 profile. The "before" figures are the number of distinct PDF/UA-1 rule types that failed and the total failed checks; a single rule typically fails many times across a document, so the checks are repeated instances of a handful of rule types, not that many distinct problems. veraPDF checks machine-verifiable requirements only. A full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance determination also requires documented human review and assistive-technology testing. Department notes reflect a public scan, not a full audit.

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See related accessibility work