Guide
How to translate a PDF and keep it accessible
A translated document that a screen reader cannot read helps nobody. This is how to avoid that.
Last reviewed October 20, 2026. General information for public agencies, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the sources below and ask your lawyer or civil rights office what applies to you.
The problem
A translated document is only useful if the person it was translated for can read it. For a blind resident who uses a screen reader, a PDF with no structure is read out in the wrong order, or not at all. Translating a document does not fix that, and translating a PDF that was never accessible gives you a second inaccessible PDF.
1. Start from an accessible source
State guidance says the same thing in several places: it is much easier to build accessibility in at the start than to add it to a finished PDF. A scanned page is just an image, and a screen reader has nothing to read unless text is added to it. The preferred path is to export from the program the document was written in, such as Word, so the tags are created for you. Scanned files need text recognition (OCR) and then tagging, and existing PDFs without tags have to be tagged.
If the original is not accessible, fix that first. Our checklist lists what to check.
2. Translate the text, then check the structure again
Translated text is usually a different length from the original. A heading that fit on one line may wrap, a table cell may grow, and a layout that was in the right order may not be. If you translate inside the layout program or re-export from the translated source, check the reading order and tags again instead of assuming they carried over.
3. Set the language
A screen reader uses the document's language setting to choose how to pronounce the text. Set the document language for the translated version. The British Columbia government's guide also explains how to mark a section in a different language in Acrobat's tag properties, which matters when one document mixes languages.
4. Check before you publish
- The document has a title and the correct language.
- Headings, lists and tables are tagged as headings, lists and tables.
- The reading order matches what a person would read.
- Images that carry meaning have a description.
- Run an accessibility checker, then listen to the first page or two with a screen reader.
Automatic checkers only catch part of the problems, so a person should look. For an official translation of a vital document, a qualified human translator should review the text itself.
Options for publishing a translated version
| Option | What to watch for |
|---|---|
| Translate the source document, then export a new tagged PDF | Most reliable. Check the new PDF's structure and language. |
| Have a professional translate and tag the PDF | Best for vital documents. Ask for a PDF that passes an accessibility check. |
| Publish the translation as a web page or readable text | Often easier to keep accessible than a second PDF, because the page has real headings and links. |
Where idioma.chat fits
idioma.chat's Document Reader opens a linked PDF as readable text that a visitor can read, listen to, or translate into their language, without a second PDF to maintain. It is automatic translation, so it is not a certified translation, and you should have a person review vital documents. If the original PDF itself is not accessible, pdf.idioma.chat fixes its structure for $0.50 per page, with your first 10 pages free. See the PDF page for how the two fit together.
Sources
- Government of British Columbia: creating accessible Adobe PDF documents
- State of Nevada: accessible PDF webinar (PDF)
- State of Indiana: PDF accessibility
- University at Buffalo: differences between WCAG 2.1 AA and PDF/UA