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PDF Accessibility — Document Language Not Specified

moderatedocument scope

This PDF does not specify its language, so screen readers cannot select the correct pronunciation rules or text-to-speech voice for the document's content. Without a language declaration, a screen reader configured for a Spanish-speaking user may attempt to read English content using Spanish phonetics, producing unintelligible output. Setting the document language is a one-minute fix in Adobe Acrobat's Document Properties.

Who Is Affected

Screen reader users whose device language settings differ from the document content language are most affected — particularly in multilingual communities. Braille translation software and text-to-speech tools also rely on the language setting to apply the correct linguistic rules. In government contexts, this matters especially for documents that serve diverse communities or that contain sections in multiple languages.

What This Means

A PDF's language is declared in the document catalog as a BCP 47 language tag (the same standard used in HTML's lang attribute). Common values:

  • en or en-US — English
  • es — Spanish
  • ht — Haitian Creole
  • pt or pt-BR — Portuguese / Brazilian Portuguese
  • fr — French

If a document contains substantial passages in a second language, those passages can also have their language declared at the tag level (PDF Technique PDF19), though setting the document-level language is the baseline requirement.

Fix: Document

Setting language in Adobe Acrobat Pro:

  1. Go to File → Properties (Ctrl+D)
  2. Select the Advanced tab
  3. Under "Reading Options," find the "Language" dropdown
  4. Select the primary language of the document (e.g., "English")
  5. Click OK and save

From source files:

The document language set in Microsoft Word (File → Options → Language → Editing Language) is passed through to the exported PDF when accessibility export options are enabled.

Verifying:

Run PAC 2024 or Acrobat's Full Accessibility Check — missing language is reported as a failure under the "Document" check category.

Standard Reference

Primary WCAG criterion addressed:

Helpful Tools

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