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An Accessible PDF — Not an Alternate Format.

Under 28 CFR § 35.202(a), a public entity may use a conforming alternate version — like an HTML transcript — only where direct accessibility is not possible due to technical or legal limitations. When the PDF itself can be remediated, the rule requires that it be. CurbEffect remediates the PDF itself.

Utility Bill

PDF-to-PDF remediation

Original PDF - 1,712 failures

veraPDF verified
First page of a Clark Regional Wastewater District utility bill. Two-column layout with account header at top, charges table on the left, and a detachable remittance stub on the right.  Adobe tag panel open to the right with header 'Accessibility tags' and content showing 'No Tags Available' — the document is completely untagged and unreadable to screen readers.
Tag tree

No tags. Untagged document.

CurbEffect Remediated PDF - 0 failures

veraPDF verified
First page of the CurbEffect remediated utility bill. Visually identical to the original — same layout, header, charges table, and remittance stub — now with full PDF/UA-1 tag structure underneath. Adobe tag panel open to the right with header 'Accessibility tags' and content showing a PDF/UA-1 conformant tag tree. All meaningful content is associated with a tag as shown by pink rectangles around it, making the document fully navigable and readable to screen readers.
Shown with tag boundaries highlighted in Acrobat for inspection. Boxes are not visible to end users of the PDF.
Tag tree
  • Document
    • H1 — “Billing Statement”
    • Figure - AltText - Clark Regional Wastewater District logo
    • Sect
      • P - P.O. Box 3855 Seattle, WA 98124-3855 (360) 993-8800 SelfPay (360) 750-7570 Fax
      • Link - www.crwwd.com
    • Sect
      • P - CUSTOMER NAME 123 MAIN STREET VANCOUVER, WA 98661
    • H2 - Special Message
    Show full tag tree Show preview only
    • Sect
      • P - PLEASE TAKE NOTE, P.O. BOX 3855, Seattle ...
    • H2 - Account Information
    • Table
    • H2 - Current Charges
    • Table
    • H2 - Bill Summary
    • Table
    • P - PO Box 3855
    • P - Seattle, WA 98124-3855 ...
    • Link - www.crwwd.com
    • H2 - Amount Due
    • H3 - TOTAL AMOUNT DUE BY 1/31/2018 76.00
    • H2 - Amount Enclosed
    • P - Please return stub with payment. Make check payable to CRWWD.
    • P - Fill In Payment Dollar Amount Here.
    • H3 - Mail Recipient: Clark Regional Wastewater District
    • Table
      • TR
        • TH - Account
        • TD - 000000-000
      • TR
        • TH - SERVICE ADDRESS:
        • TD - 123 MAIN STREET
      • TR
        • TH - SERVICE PERIOD:
        • TD - 12/1/2017 To 1/31/2018
      • TR
        • TH - BILLING DATE:
        • TD - 12/29/2017
      • TR
        • TH - DUE DATE:
        • TD - 01/31/2018
    • P - Please check box to indicate change of ownership.
    • P - or mailing address for owner (see other side)
    • P - Mailing Address: Customer Name
    • P - 123 Main Street
    • P - VANCOUVER, WA 98660

veraPDF Compliance Report

veraPDF Report — Original PDF

1,712 failures
Document
clark-utility-sample-original.pdf
Profile
PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1)
Rules tested
94 of 106 passed
Individual checks
12,669 of 14,381 passed
Result
Non-conformant
Failed rules (12)
  • Clause 7.2.34 930 checks
    Natural language for text in page content shall be determined
  • Clause 7.1.3 610 checks
    Content shall be marked as Artifact or tagged as real content
  • Clause 7.3.1 79 checks
    Figure tags shall include an alternative representation or replacement text that represents the contents marked with the Figure tag as noted in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.7.2, Table 323
  • Clause 7.2.22 77 checks
    Natural language for text in Alt attribute shall be determined
  • Clause 7.21.4.1.1 6 checks
    The font programs for all fonts used for rendering within a conforming file shall be embedded within that file, as defined in ISO 32000-1:2008, 9.9
  • Clause 7.18.5.2 2 checks
    Links shall contain an alternate description via their Contents key as described in ISO 32000-1:2008, 14.9.3
  • Clause 7.18.1.2 2 checks
    An annotation (except Widget annotations or hidden annotations, or those having rectangle outside the crop-box) shall have either Contents key or an Alt entry in the enclosing structure element
  • Clause 7.21.8.1 2 checks
    A PDF/UA compliant document shall not contain a reference to the .notdef glyph from any of the text showing operators, regardless of text rendering mode, in any content stream
  • Clause 7.2.33 1 checks
    Natural language for document metadata shall be determined
  • Clause 7.18.3.1 1 checks
    Every page on which there is an annotation shall contain in its page dictionary the key Tabs, and its value shall be S
  • Clause 6.2.1 1 checks
    The document catalog dictionary shall include a MarkInfo dictionary containing an entry, Marked, whose value shall be true
  • Clause 5.1 1 checks
    The PDF/UA version and conformance level of a file shall be specified using the PDF/UA Identification extension schema
View full veraPDF report →

veraPDF Report — CurbEffect Remediated PDF

0 failures
Document
clark-utility-sample-remediated.pdf
Profile
PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1)
Rules tested
106 of 106 passed
Individual checks
29,055 of 29,055 passed
Result
Fully conformant
All 29,055 checks passed. No PDF/UA-1 violations detected.
View full veraPDF report →

Source files: Original Utility Bill PDF · Original Utility Bill Report · Remediated Utility Bill PDF · Remediated Utility Bill Report

What CurbEffect Did

The remediated PDFs include the following accessibility improvements:

Structural tagging

Full PDF/UA tag tree — headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables properly identified

Reading order

Logical reading sequence established for screen reader navigation

Heading structure

Hierarchical H1–H6 applied to reflect document organization

PDF/UA-1 declaration

Title, language, and PDF/UA identifier set in document properties

Layout integrity preserved

Original visual layout, page breaks, and line numbering retained exactly as published

Independent veraPDF validation

Open-standard proof of WCAG 2.1 Level AA and PDF/UA-1 (ISO 14289-1) conformance

Note on formatting conventions: Where documents use visual conventions to convey meaning — such as strikethrough text indicating deleted language or underlined text indicating proposed additions — CurbEffect applies tags based on publicly available information about that document type's formatting standards. These interpretations are confirmed with each client during the discovery process to ensure tags accurately reflect the intended meaning of your specific documents. Contact us to discuss your formatting conventions.