Guides
Plain answers for the people responsible for accessible documents: what the rules require, what fixing costs, and how to prove it’s done.
Alt text for complex images: charts, maps and diagrams in PDFs, and where AI helps
Complex images such as charts, maps and diagrams need two parts: a short alt text that identifies the image and its main point, and a long description that carries the information the image holds. In a PDF, the long description works best as visible text or a data table near the image. Where the page can't change, it can go in the image's alternate text after the short alt, because PDF has no separate long-description field. AI can draft both, but a person should check every draft against the document's purpose and the labels printed in the image.
Guide · 10 min read · Ockem teamAutomated PDF remediation: what software fixes and what needs a person
A check-by-check map of WCAG 2.1 AA for PDFs, showing what software repairs on its own, what it drafts for a person to confirm, and what a person decides.
Logical reading order in PDFs: what 'Needs manual check' means and how to pass it
Acrobat flags reading order on every PDF it checks. Here is what the flag means, what WCAG 1.3.2 asks, how to check the order in 15 minutes with free tools, and how to fix it in Acrobat or at the source.
PDF accessibility checkers compared: Acrobat Pro, PAC 2026 and veraPDF
What each checker actually tests, why their results disagree, why a clean report still isn't WCAG 2.1 AA, and a free checking routine you can run on your next agenda packet.
Multi-column PDF reading order: sidebars, footnotes, tables and complex layouts
A pattern gallery for newsletters, annual reports, budget books and agenda packets: ten layouts, what a screen reader user often hears, the order that works, and how to tag it.
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Hospitals, clinics and health departments that receive HHS funding, under Section 504.
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