Why does reading order matter?

A screen reader reads a tagged PDF in the order of its tags, not the order things appear on screen. In a two-column page, the wrong order jumps between columns line by line and the text stops making sense.

What does marking something as decoration do?

Headers, footers, page numbers and decorative lines are marked as artifacts. A screen reader skips them, so the reader doesn't hear the page number in the middle of a sentence.

My PDF already has tags. What happens to them?

The tags are rebuilt from the page content, so the order and types you set here are exactly what gets written. Structures such as tables that the original app tagged become paragraphs, so check a table-heavy document afterwards.

Does this make the PDF compliant?

It fixes the reading order, the structure and the image descriptions, which are among the most common failures. It is a technical fix, not a legal certification — have the result reviewed if you rely on it for compliance.

PDF reading order editor

See the order a screen reader follows, fix it, and set headings, lists, image descriptions and page furniture.

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Drop your PDF here

or choose it from your files

Your files are never transmitted. Nothing is uploaded.

Optimize PDF tools14 ready

Good to know

Accepts: PDF
Files at once: One at a time
Transmission: None — nothing is uploaded.

Chain it

Run this tool and the next one back to back — nothing to download in between.

Build a workflow

How to do it

Add your file
Add the PDF. Each block of text and each image appears on the page with a number — the order a screen reader will read it in.
Set it up the way you want
Put the blocks in the right order with the arrows, or use Order by columns for a two-column layout. Set each block's type, describe each image, and mark headers, footers and page numbers as decoration.
Download the result
Download the tagged PDF. Then run Check accessibility on it to see what is left.

Questions about PDF reading order editor

Why does reading order matter?: A screen reader reads a tagged PDF in the order of its tags, not the order things appear on screen. In a two-column page, the wrong order jumps between columns line by line and the text stops making sense.
What does marking something as decoration do?: Headers, footers, page numbers and decorative lines are marked as artifacts. A screen reader skips them, so the reader doesn't hear the page number in the middle of a sentence.
My PDF already has tags. What happens to them?: The tags are rebuilt from the page content, so the order and types you set here are exactly what gets written. Structures such as tables that the original app tagged become paragraphs, so check a table-heavy document afterwards.
Does this make the PDF compliant?: It fixes the reading order, the structure and the image descriptions, which are among the most common failures. It is a technical fix, not a legal certification — have the result reviewed if you rely on it for compliance.

PDF reading order editor

Good to know

Chain it

How to do it

Add your file

Set it up the way you want

Download the result

Questions about PDF reading order editor

You might also need

Check PDF accessibility

Convert a PDF to PDF/A

Compress PDF