International Accessibility Standards are guidelines and regulations designed to ensure that digital content—including PDF documents—is usable by people with disabilities. These standards define technical and design requirements so that information can be perceived, understood, navigated, and interacted with by everyone, regardless of physical or cognitive limitations.
Here are the most widely recognized international standards related to accessible PDFs:
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
Country: United States
Scope: Civil rights law requiring public and private organizations to provide equal access, including digital content.
Note: Not a technical standard itself, but often enforced using WCAG.
AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act)
Country: Canada (Ontario)
Scope: Mandates accessible digital content for public, private, and nonprofit organizations.
Standard used: WCAG 2.0 Level AA.
BITV (Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung)
Country: Germany
Scope: National regulation requiring accessible ICT in the public sector.
Standard used: Aligned with WCAG 2.1 and EN 301 549.
EN 301 549
Region: European Union
Scope: Civil rights law requiring public and private organizations to provide equal access, including digital content.
Based on: WCAG 2.1.
Mandatory for: All public sector bodies in the EU.
European Accessibility Act (EAA)
Region: European Union
Effective: June 28, 2025
Scope: Requires accessibility in digital products and services (including documents) for both public and private sectors.
Based on: WCAG and EN 301 549.
PDF/UA (PDF Universal Accessibility – ISO 14289)
Published by: ISO
Scope: Defines technical requirements for making PDFs accessible, including tagging, reading order, and alt text.
Use case: Ensures PDFs are usable with assistive technologies.
Section 508 (U.S. Rehabilitation Act)
Country: United States
Scope: Requires U.S. federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible.
Aligned with: WCAG 2.0 Level AA (since 2018).
Stanca Act (Legge Stanca)
Country: Italy
Scope: National law for accessible digital content in public administration.
Based on: WCAG; part of broader EU accessibility framework.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
Published by: W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)
Versions: 2.0, 2.1, 2.2
Scope: Global standard for web and document accessibility.
Principles: Content must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR).