PDF remediation software compared

Six programs a small office can run itself to tag a PDF, fix its reading order and check it against PDF/UA and WCAG, plus two free checkers. Each Yes below was read on the maker's own page. If you would rather hand the files to someone else, see PDF remediation services compared.

Fig. 1A laptop shows a document beside its outline panel with one row in focus

The verdict by use case

Best overall
Adobe Acrobat Pro
The only tool here whose own pages show tag editing, reading order, table and form repair, a checker and batch actions together, on Windows and Mac.
Best for staff who are not PDF specialists
Equidox
It works in zones on the page instead of a tag tree and runs in a browser on a PC or a Mac; pair it with a free checker, since it states none.
Best for a strict PDF/UA target
axesPDF
Full structure-tree editing with the PAC checks run inside the same program, so you fix and recheck without switching tools.

Side by side

Scroll sideways to see all vendors.

How PDF remediation software compares on what a tagged, checked PDF needs
Requirement	Adobe Acrobat Pro	Foxit PDF Editor	CommonLook PDF	Equidox	axesPDF	PDFix Desktop
Edits the tag tree directly	Yes	Yes	Check with the vendor	No	Yes	Yes
Fixes reading order	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Yes	Yes	Yes
Repairs table structure (headers, spans)	Yes	Check with the vendor	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tags form fields	Yes	Not stated	Yes	Yes	Check with the vendor	Not stated
Built-in accessibility checker	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Yes	Yes
Checks against PDF/UA	Yes	Check with the vendor	Yes	Not stated	Yes	Yes
Names WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 in its checks	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated	Yes
Produces a checker report	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Check with the vendor	Yes
Batch or repeat work across files	Yes	Not stated	Check with the vendor	Yes	Not stated	Yes
Runs on Windows	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Runs on a Mac	Yes	Check with the vendor	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Yes
Runs in a web browser	Not stated	Check with the vendor	Yes	Yes	Not stated	Not stated

The vendors

Adobe Acrobat Pro

What it is: Adobe's full PDF editor. The accessibility check and fix tools sit in the Pro edition.
Who it fits: An office that already pays for Acrobat Pro and fixes a handful of its own PDFs a month.

Tags panel to edit the tag treeYes
Reading Order tool and Table EditorYes
Checker names PDF/UA and WCAG 2.0Yes
Runs one action across a folder of filesYes
Names WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 in its checksNot stated

Adobe Acrobat Pro website

Foxit PDF Editor

What it is: A general PDF editor with an Accessibility tab: autotag, Full Check, a Reading Order tool and a Tags panel.
Who it fits: An office that already works in Foxit and wants the core tagging tools without a second editor.

Tags panel to edit the tag treeYes
Full Check with a pass or fail reportYes
Checks against PDF/UACheck with the vendor
Repairs table headers and spansCheck with the vendor
Accessibility tools on a MacCheck with the vendor

Foxit PDF Editor website

CommonLook PDF

What it is: Specialist remediation software from Allyant, with a simplified and an advanced editor, in a browser or on the desktop.
Who it fits: Staff who are not PDF specialists but must hand a validation report to a client or an agency.

Simplified editor for non-technical staffYes
Tags tables, lists and formsYes
Validates against PDF/UA and WCAGYes
Downloadable validation report per fileYes
Batch work across many filesCheck with the vendor

CommonLook PDF website

Equidox

What it is: Web-based remediation software that works in zones drawn on the page instead of a tag tree.
Who it fits: An office that wants the people who write the documents to fix them, on a PC or a Mac.

One-click reading order fixYes
Table and form panesYes
Copies tagging from one file to the nextYes
Built-in PDF/UA checkerNot stated
Edits the tag tree directlyNo

Equidox website

axesPDF

What it is: Windows software from axes4, the maker of PAC, for editing the whole structure tree with the PAC checks built in.
Who it fits: Someone who already knows tags and needs hard tables and a strict PDF/UA target right.

Edits the full structure treeYes
Complex table header mappingYes
PAC checks run inside the editorYes
Screen reader preview of reading orderYes
Runs on a MacNot stated

axesPDF website

PDFix Desktop

What it is: Desktop software for Windows, macOS and Linux that auto-tags, lets you edit the structure and validates with veraPDF.
Who it fits: A small team with recurring documents that wants batch work and a free checker to start with.

Visual tagging and structure editingYes
Validates PDF/UA and WCAG 2.2Yes
Exports the validation reportYes
Batch processingYes
Tags form fieldsNot stated

PDFix Desktop website

Build a shortlist in three answers

The table above has twelve rows; most offices care about three of them. Answer for the person who will actually sit with the files. The list counts only a Yes that we read on the maker's own page.

Your shortlist

2 of 6 tools state all three on the maker's own page.

CommonLook PDFStaff who are not PDF specialists but must hand a validation report to a client or an agency.
EquidoxAn office that wants the people who write the documents to fix them, on a PC or a Mac.

Equidox does not state a built-in checker, so pair it with one of the free checkers below.

Free checkers: PAC and PDFix Desktop Lite

A checker tells you what is wrong; it does not fix it. Two are free and worth keeping on the machine next to whichever editor you pick. PAC comes from axes4, the maker of axesPDF, and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The current release, PAC 2026.1, runs on Windows 10 and 11 and adds AI-assisted checks to the PDF/UA and WCAG check sets. Its own conformance report says its interface is mostly, but not completely, accessible: worth knowing if the person checking uses a screen reader.

PDFix Desktop Lite is the free edition of PDFix Desktop and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. It checks with veraPDF, the open-source validator that covers every PDF/UA part, and exports its findings as HTML, XML or JSON. It can also fix a file, but anything you save from the free edition carries a watermark.

Two free PDF checkers, on what their makers state
Requirement	PAC 2026	PDFix Desktop Lite
Free to use	Yes	Yes
Runs on Windows	Yes	Yes
Runs on a Mac	No	Yes
Checks against PDF/UA	Yes	Yes
Checks against WCAG	Yes	Yes
Screen reader or structure preview	Yes	Not stated
Exports a report	Yes	Yes
Fixes the file as well	No	Yes

A clean report is not a finished PDF

axes4 says the Matterhorn Protocol, the test protocol for PDF/UA, shows that about two thirds of its requirements can be checked by software and the rest need a person. Adobe's own checker marks some rules Needs Manual Check for the same reason. Whether the alt text is right and the reading order makes sense still needs someone to read it.

For a first look before you install anything, our PDF accessibility quick check shows whether a file is tagged, titled and has a text layer.

What the software has to fix

Every tool on this page works on the same five parts of a PDF. The criterion numbers are from WCAG 2.2. W3C wrote them for web content, and the Section 508 Standards apply them to documents too, excusing non-web documents from four criteria (2.4.1, 2.4.5, 3.2.3 and 3.2.4).

Tags
1.3.1 Info and Relationships. Headings, lists and tables carry tags, so the structure a sighted reader sees is in the file itself.
Reading order
1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence. Columns, sidebars and captions are read in the order that makes sense, not the order they were drawn.
Alt text
1.1.1 Non-text Content. Every image that carries meaning has a text alternative; decorative ones are marked as artifacts.
Form fields
4.1.2 Name, Role, Value. Each fillable field has a name a screen reader announces, usually set as the field's tooltip.
Document title
2.4.2 Page Titled. The file has a title that says what it is, shown in the viewer's title bar.

What WCAG asks

When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined.

1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence, Level A. In a PDF, the reading sequence is the order of the tags, which is why every editor here has a reading order tool or a tag tree.

The steps in order, from the source file to the final check, are in how to make a PDF accessible.

Read the WCAG version on the checker

Adobe describes its checker as testing against standards such as PDF/UA and WCAG 2.0. Foxit describes WCAG 2.0 checks for Section 508 support. PDFix names WCAG 2.2. The others say WCAG without a version. That matters, because the rules you answer to name different versions:

The Section 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA by reference (not 2.1 or 2.2).
The DOJ Title II rule's technical standard is WCAG 2.1 Level AA (not 2.2).
Content that conforms to WCAG 2.2 also conforms to WCAG 2.0 and 2.1; W3C advises using 2.2.

A WCAG 2.0 check is a fine floor for a federal buyer. If you answer to the DOJ Title II web rule or simply want the current target, check the 2.1 and 2.2 additions by hand or with a checker that names them. What a federal reviewer looks for in a document is in 508 compliant PDF. This is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a lawyer.

Software or a service

Software pays off when the same person fixes files every week and most of them start life in Word or PowerPoint. Fixing the source first usually leaves a check and a few touch-ups instead of a full tagging job: see accessible Word documents and accessible PowerPoint slides.

A service is the better buy for a backlog of scanned files, long reports full of tables, or fillable forms you cannot rebuild, and when a client wants a remediated file with a checker report attached. Services are judged on what they hand back in PDF remediation services compared, and what is PDF remediation explains what drives the work.

How we compared

Vendor pages read on October 22, 2026

Listed: software a small office can buy or download and run itself to tag and fix PDFs. Services, developer-only SDKs and plain PDF viewers are left out; services have their own comparison.

A Yes means the maker's own page said so when we read it. Not stated means the page is silent. Check with the vendor means the page hints at it without saying it plainly, or names the feature for another edition. Where a maker's page refused our request, the row is Not stated.

Verdicts are editorial: no vendor can buy a verdict position or displace another vendor.

No overlay widget is listed. By an overlay we mean a third-party widget or toolbar script sold as making a site conform without changing its source. In April 2025 the FTC approved a final order that bars one overlay vendor from claiming, without evidence to support it, that its automated products can make any website WCAG-compliant. Read the FTC's announcement of the order.

Nothing here is legal advice. For a specific case, ask a lawyer.

Questions

Can I check a PDF for free?

Yes. PAC runs on Windows and PDFix Desktop Lite on Windows, macOS and Linux; both check against PDF/UA and WCAG at no cost. Neither replaces a person reading the alt text and the reading order.

Is Acrobat Standard enough?

Adobe labels its accessibility check and fix tasks Acrobat Pro, so plan on the Pro edition for remediation work.

Does a clean checker report mean the PDF is accessible?

No. DOJ says automated checkers and overlays "need to be used carefully" and a clean report does not mean a site is accessible; pair them with a manual check. The same holds for a PDF: listen to it with a screen reader or use a preview of the reading order.

Should I fix the PDF or the Word file?

The Word or PowerPoint file, whenever you have it. Headings, alt text and table headers set there carry into the export, and the PDF editor is left with a check. Start with accessible Word documents.

Which standard should my PDF meet?

PDF/UA (ISO 14289) is the standard for the file itself, and WCAG sets the user-facing tests. Which WCAG version applies depends on who you answer to; what is WCAG explains the versions. This is general information, not legal advice. For your own situation, ask a lawyer.