Document accessibility comes with its own jargon โ tags, reading order, ARIA, WCAG, Israeli Standard 5568 โ and it can be hard to remember what each term actually means. This article is a short, clear glossary you can come back to any time a term isn't clear.
In short โ what this article covers
Basic terms
- Digital Accessibility
- The ability of people with disabilities โ visual, hearing, motor, cognitive โ to use digital content, including documents, with the help of assistive technology.
- Screen Reader
- Software that converts on-screen content into speech or a Braille display, letting people who are blind or have low vision use a computer or a document. Examples: JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver.
- Alt Text
- A short text description of an image, letting a screen reader "describe" it to a user who can't see it.
- Color Contrast
- The ratio between the brightness of text and the brightness of the background behind it; the higher the ratio, the easier the text is to read for users with vision impairments.
Structure and tagging terms
- Tags
- A hidden layer within a PDF file that describes its logical structure โ headings, paragraphs, tables, lists โ and lets a screen reader "understand" the document, not just see it.
- Reading Order
- The order in which a screen reader moves through the document's elements; it must reflect the logical order of the content, not necessarily the visual position on the page.
- Heading Hierarchy
- A tiered structure of headings (H1, H2, H3...) that enables quick navigation through the document and reflects the logical order of topics, without skipping levels.
- Accessible Name
- The text a screen reader actually reads out for a given element โ such as a form field or a button โ even if it differs from the text displayed visually.
๐ก Practical tip
If you're not sure whether a particular document is tagged correctly, the first step is to open the Tags panel in Acrobat and see whether it has any structure at all โ a document with no tags whatsoever is the first sign of a problem.
Standards and compliance levels
- WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
- The leading international standard for digital content accessibility, including documents. Defined at three compliance levels: A (basic), AA (the level required in most places, including Israel), and AAA (the strictest).
- Israeli Standard 5568
- The Israeli standard for digital content accessibility, based on WCAG with local adaptations, and divided into two parts: website accessibility and document accessibility.
- EN 301 549
- The European standard for the accessibility of ICT (information and communications technology) products and services, the regulatory basis for implementing the European Accessibility Act (EAA).
- EAA โ European Accessibility Act
- The European Accessibility Act, fully in force since June 2025, requiring digital accessibility across a wide range of services and products sold in the European market.
Want to see how these terms translate to your actual documents?
Our free tool scans the PDF files on your site and shows you exactly where tags, headings, or alt text are missing โ in plain language, not just jargon.
Scan your site for free โAfter scanning, you can also make the documents that were found accessible directly and for free via AccessiDoc.