Strategy to Remediate a Large PDF Library

This strategy helps you organize and prioritize your large collection of PDFs published on your state agency website in preparation for remediation to meet accessibility standards.

Reminder: the compliance deadline for state agencies is April 24, 2026. Documents published after April 24, 2026 must be accessible.

How to Remediate a Large PDF Library

  • 1

    Inventory

    Find every PDF on your site published before April 24, 2026.

    Download this PDF Remediation Strategy Inventory Template to help manage your inventory.

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    The Big Picture

    You need to address every document in your inventory.

    • Why It Matters: You are providing equal access and preventing discrimination.
    • What to Do: Deal with documents that carry the highest risk of complaints first.

    Questions to help prioritize

    QuestionPriority
    Is the PDF used to apply for, access, or participate in a state government's services, programs, or activities?Highest priority. If people's needs aren't met, there will be complaints. 
    Does the PDF contain a form and how often is the form submitted?High priority. Documents with forms are often not accessible.
    How often is the PDF downloaded?Documents that are downloaded frequently are high priority.
    Is the PDF downloadable from a webpage that is visited often?Pages that rank high in search results or have many visitors have a higher risk of complaints if the documents on these pages are not accessible.
    Does the PDF have tags?PDF documents without tags are an obvious indication that they are not accessible. Higher priority.
    When was the PDF created or last modified?Older documents may be lower priority.
    Does the PDF contain broken links?Documents with broken links may be outdated and therefore, lower priority.
    Is the information in the PDF available as an HTML webpage?Lowest priority since the HTML version is an accessible alternative.
  • 2

    Categorize

    Sort the inventory into four categories:

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    Decide which PDFs can be retired (removed from being online).

    Removing old, unnecessary content from public view eliminates accessibility complaints.

    Decide which PDFs can be converted to HTML.

    Good candidates for HTML conversion:

    • content that changes often
    • forms
    • PDFs that are used the most
    • PDFs on high traffic pages
    • mobile-only content

    Decide which PDFs will stay online in an archive (because they're exempt from being made accessible).

    Summary of the Exceptions

    • Exception 1: Archived web content
    • Exception 2: Preexisting conventional electronic documents
      • Note: This exception does not apply to documents that are being used to apply for, access, or participate in a state government’s services, programs, or activities.
    • Exception 3: Content posted by a third party
    • Exception 4: Individualized documents that are password-protected
    • Exception 5: Preexisting social media posts

    Determine which PDFs will remain online and are not exempt. These will need to be remediated.

    Questions to help you prioritize:

    • Are there existing complaints or users with disabilities who rely on the document?
    • Is the document part of a deadline, seasonal cycle, or time-sensitive?
    • Is the document simple or complex?
    • Is the content legally or procedurally critical?
    • Does it contain forms or interactive elements?
    • Is the PDF linked from a high traffic webpage?
    • Do other agencies or organizations depend on this document?
  • 3

    Execute

    Begin retiring, archiving, converting, and remediating.

    Frequently Asked Questions

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    • Remove from public view, documents and links to documents that will be retired.
    • Clean up any broken links and establish redirects as appropriate.

    • Build and publish HTML pages with content from the document.
    • Replace links and establish redirects as appropriate.

    • No action is needed. These archived documents will remain online and not be remediated because they qualify under one of the exceptions.
    • Reminder: If a member of the public requests an accessible version of an archived document, be prepared to remediate the document.

    Decide what to remediate yourself, and what to send to a remediation service.

    Remediation Service

    For documents that will be sent to a remediation service:

    • Send the document to the service for full remediation of accessibility issues.
    • Services typically charge at a per page rate.
    • You'll get back a fully remediated PDF, ready to publish.
    • If you ever need to edit the PDF, it will need to be remediated again.

    Do-It-Yourself Remediation

    For documents that you will remediate yourself:

    • Note: This method results in a more accessible document, but may not guarantee a fully remediated document.
    • If the PDF has no tags, recreate the PDF from the source document - generate tags.
    • Check and fix the tags.
    • Resolve accessibility issues identified by scanning tools.
    • Consult with NCDIT Digital Accessibility Support as needed.
    • Replace existing PDF with remediated PDF on website.