Description
Is your site ready for the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and the ADA? Most PDF documents on the web are not accessible: screen readers cannot read them in a meaningful order, images have no descriptions, forms have no labels. The requirements are similar on both sides of the Atlantic — the EAA in the EU, the ADA and Section 508 in the United States — and PDFs are the most commonly overlooked part.
See the plugin in action (58 seconds):
The a11yfy plugin gives you two things:
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Free accessibility scan — 100% local. The analysis engine runs in your browser (pdf.js + pdf-lib): it verifies your PDFs against 42 machine-verifiable checkpoints of the Matterhorn Protocol (PDF/UA-1) — tag structure, document metadata, heading hierarchy, alternative texts, language settings, annotation nesting and more. Your files never leave your site. The result is a risk rating and a concrete list of problems for every PDF in your Media Library.
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One-click remediation (optional, paid). Connect your a11yfy account and the plugin sends the selected PDFs to the a11yfy service, which produces a tagged, PDF/UA-oriented accessible version — processed in the EU. The fixed file replaces the original at the same URL (the original is kept as a backup with one-click restore), or, in conservative mode, is served alongside it.
The free scan is a genuine standalone tool — no account, no API calls, no telemetry. The paid service is only involved when you explicitly send a document for remediation.
Why a11yfy?
- Files are processed in the EU, on EU infrastructure — GDPR-friendly by design.
- Works on scanned (image-only) PDFs too: OCR plus a full structural rebuild.
- The original file is always kept — one-click restore, tamper detection, free re-apply.
- Every remediated PDF comes with a verifiable certificate — downloadable from the document page or the Media Library, with a public verification link you can share.
- Fully translation-ready — translations are delivered via translate.wordpress.org as they become available.
Important: the free scan is a technical pre-check against the machine-verifiable PDF/UA-1 checkpoints. It cannot (and does not claim to) certify full PDF/UA-1, EAA or ADA compliance — that also requires human checks and font-level validation, which the a11yfy service performs during remediation.
External Services
This plugin connects to the a11yfy API (https://a11yfy.com) — but only when you connect an API key and request remediation or balance information. The free scan never contacts any external service.
What is sent and when:
- When you remediate a PDF (manually, via bulk action, or through the automatic mode you enabled): the PDF file itself, its file name, and your API key are sent to
https://a11yfy.com/v1/jobs. Processing happens in the EU. - Balance / job status checks: your API key is sent with each request; no document content.
The plugin never sends analytics, usage statistics, or any data about your site visitors. Data processing terms: https://a11yfy.com/privacy — Terms of service: https://a11yfy.com/terms
Source Code
The bundled analysis engine is built from human-readable source with esbuild. Unminified source: the js/ directory of the public plugin repository at https://github.com/a11yfy/wp-plugin — the bundled libraries are pdf.js (Apache-2.0, https://github.com/mozilla/pdf.js), pdf-lib (MIT, https://github.com/Hopding/pdf-lib), smalot/pdfparser (LGPL-3.0, https://github.com/smalot/pdfparser), Action Scheduler (GPL-3.0, https://github.com/woocommerce/action-scheduler).
Screenshots
FAQ
Is the scan really free?
Yes. It runs in your browser using open-source libraries. It does not use the a11yfy API and works without an account.
How much does remediation cost?
Remediation uses credits from your a11yfy account — typically 1–3 credits per page, depending on the PDF. The dashboard shows an estimate before you confirm, and the scan itself never costs anything. Current pricing: https://a11yfy.com/pricing
My PDFs are scans — can they be fixed?
Yes. Scanned, image-only PDFs are OCR-processed and rebuilt with a full tag structure, including an invisible, screen-reader-readable text layer.
Will the fixed PDF look different?
No. Remediation preserves the visual appearance; it adds the accessibility structure (tags, reading order, alternative texts, metadata) underneath.
Which PDFs cannot be remediated?
Password-protected, XFA-form and portfolio PDFs are detected up front, clearly labelled, and never sent to the service. Digitally signed PDFs are detected too: remediation rewrites the file and would invalidate the signature, so the fix only starts after you explicitly confirm it on the document.
My security plugin reported that a PDF file changed.
That is the point of remediation: the accessible version replaces the original file (same URL). The original is kept in a protected backup folder and can be restored with one click from the Media Library.
What happens when I delete the plugin?
Remediated PDFs are your content and stay by default. In Settings you can choose to restore the original files on deletion instead. All plugin data (tables, options, scan results) is removed either way.
Does it work with offloaded media (S3/CDN)?
Partially. Scanning works through a local proxy; in-place replacement automatically falls back to conservative mode for non-local files. Full offload support is planned.
In conservative mode, are all links to the PDF swapped?
Conservative mode swaps links in post and page content (
the_content) and wherever WordPress resolves the attachment URL (wp_get_attachment_url). Links hard-coded elsewhere — page-builder modules (Elementor, Divi, …), widgets, navigation menus, or theme templates — may keep pointing to the original file and should be checked manually. The default in-place mode does not have this limitation: the accessible file replaces the original at the same URL.
Reviews
Contributors & Developers
“a11yfy – PDF Accessibility Checker & Fixer” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
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Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- Initial release.