The European Accessibility Act (EAA) is coming into effect in June 2025, and it’s going to change the way businesses deliver digital content across the EU. If your clients provide products or services through websites, mobile apps, or downloadable materials like PDFs, it’s time to ask a critical question:
Are their digital documents accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities?
If the answer is unclear, it’s time to get familiar with PDF Remediation, one of the key components of accessibility compliance. Let’s explore what it means, why it matters, and how to prepare so you can buckle up your clients for the EAA.
What is PDF Remediation?
PDF Remediation is the process of converting PDF documents into formats that are fully accessible to assistive technologies like screen readers, screen magnifiers, or voice recognition software. A remediated PDF allows users with visual, cognitive, or mobility impairments to navigate and understand with ease.
This process includes:
- Applying a logical tag structure for headings, paragraphs, and lists
- Ensuring correct reading order
- Adding alt-text for all non-text elements like images or charts
- Setting the correct document language
- Providing navigation features such as bookmarks and tables of contents
In essence, PDF Remediation ensures that every reader, regardless of ability, can consume the information independently.
Why PDF Remediation matters for the EAA?
The European Accessibility Act was introduced to harmonize accessibility requirements across the EU, giving people with disabilities equal access to digital goods and services.
From June 28, 2025, businesses offering digital content, e-commerce, banking services, or e-books will be required to ensure their documents are accessible.
PDFs are widely used across industries for manuals, product catalogs, brochures, forms, and reports. However, most PDFs are not natively accessible — and that’s where remediation becomes essential.
Non-compliance with the EAA could lead to:
- Legal consequences or penalties
- Brand reputation damage
- Missed opportunities to serve a broader audience
The role of Desktop Publishing in PDF Accessibility
Many accessibility issues begin during the content creation stage, before a document is turned into a PDF. This is where desktop publishing services (DTP) play a critical role.
A high-quality desktop publishing service ensures:
- Clean and consistent layouts
- Proper use of fonts and spacing for readability
- Logical structure that facilitates future remediation
At Foliage Solutions, desktop publishing is at the core of what we do. With deep expertise in managing PDFs for a range of formats, languages, and technical specifications, we’ve developed a strong foundation for handling documents with precision and consistency.
Our unique position, working primarily with translation companies and language service providers (LSPs), means we’ve encountered an incredible variety of projects that have trained our team to handle complex, multilingual, and compliance-driven content at scale.
Partnering with us means:
- Faster turnaround times
- Reduced remediation complexity
- Seamless integration with your localization and publishing processes
If you’re a translation company or LSP looking for a partner who truly gets your world and your workflows, Foliage Solutions is ready to help.
How to identify if your clients’ PDFs are accessible
As an LSP, you’re likely receiving and working with a wide variety of client PDFs — from marketing brochures to complex technical manuals. But how can you tell if those files are already accessible or need remediation?
Here are some practical checks to help you assess your clients’ PDFs:
- Check the document structure
Is there a clear visual and logical hierarchy? If everything looks like plain text with no real headings or structure, chances are it’s not tagged correctly. - Try selecting text and navigating with the keyboard
If text can’t be selected, or if using the Tab key doesn’t follow a logical path, the document likely lacks proper reading order and interactivity. - Run an accessibility check in Adobe Acrobat
Acrobat Pro offers a built-in accessibility checker — a quick way to detect missing tags, alt-text, reading order issues, and language settings. - Look for missing tags or incorrect tagging
Open the Tags panel in Acrobat. If it’s empty or poorly structured, the document hasn’t been remediated. - Are images described?
Hover over or inspect any non-text elements. If they don’t have alt-text or meaningful descriptions, screen readers won’t be able to convey the information. - Review metadata and document properties
Is the document language set? Does it have a meaningful title? These elements are small but essential for accessibility. - Test with a screen reader
Try reading the file with a free screen reader like NVDA. If the content is read out of order, skipped, or confusing, remediation is likely needed.
By knowing what to look for, you can better support your clients in becoming EAA-compliant and even offer added value by recommending remediation before localization begins.
Choosing a reliable PDF Remediation partner
Accessibility isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s about creating meaningful experiences for all users. That’s why choosing a skilled remediation partner is critical.
Here’s what to look for:
- Knowledge in accessibility standards: including WCAG 2.1 and PDF/UA
- Real-world testing: with screen readers and other assistive tools
- Integrated services: like combining desktop publishing with PDF remediation
- Customized solutions: not all content fits into a template — flexibility matters
Final thoughts
The countdown to June 2025 has already begun. If you produce digital documents in any format, especially PDFs, now is the time to evaluate their accessibility and plan for remediation.
Don’t wait for the EAA to catch you off guard.
✔️ Audit your PDFs
✔️ Fix accessibility issues
✔️ Partner with experienced remediation providers
✅ Ready to make your content compliant and inclusive?
Get in touch with us at Foliage Solutions now to learn more about our tailored PDF Remediation and desktop publishing services. Let’s help you create content that’s accessible to everyone!