Accessible PDFs: Mastering the Tags Tree

For anyone responsible for delivering final accessible PDFs, understanding the Tags Tree is essential to ensuring content is readable, navigable, and usable with assistive technology.

In this session, Chad Chelius explains how the PDF Tags Tree defines document structure and reading order, and why it is central to effective PDF accessibility. You’ll see where common accessibility issues originate and how to evaluate and correct them in Acrobat. The focus is on understanding how tags work and how tagging decisions affect real users.

Key takeaways:

• Understand what the PDF Tags Tree represents and why it is the foundation of PDF accessibility
• Document remediation techniques
• Identify and correct reading order issues using the Tags Tree
• Evaluate existing PDFs to spot common structural accessibility problems
• Make informed tagging decisions that improve usability for assistive technology users