axes4 PDF Accessibility Summit

From social benefits to healthcare and education, access to documents means access to rights. But how accessible are Europe’s public sector PDFs? Stefan Farnetani of mindscreen presents findings from the Europe-wide PDF Accessibility Benchmark 2026, a joint study by mindscreen, CAAT, axes4 and the European Disability Forum (EDF). Alejandro Moledo of the EDF explores what the findings mean for persons with disabilities and where action is needed next. 
A session for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike, connecting data with everyday barriers and the goal of documents everyone can use.

When Duff started working with Tagged PDF in 2001, basic screen reader support was already in place. A quarter-century later, there have been some improvements, but progress remains very slow. 
In this keynote, Duff shares his vision for the future of accessible PDF, touching on the PDF/UA standards, current work across the industry, and the opportunities, limitations and implications of AI.

In this session, you'll see how axesPDF can help you to evaluate problems in your document to meet PDF conformance. You'll also learn how to address specific problems in your tagging structure that might be preventing your file from meeting the WCAG or PDF/UA standards.

In this session, you’ll see where and how to find relevant Techniques on pdfa.org, what resources each Technique provides, and how they can be used in real-world applications. The session also explores the differences between PASS and FAIL examples, the reasons behind them, and how both can support remediation, testing, development and training. 

In this presentation Melanie Hobusch shares practical insights from her experience converting print-oriented documents into digitally accessible pdf documents. Using examples, she highlights the structural, technical, and design-related barriers that often arise when print layouts must meet accessibility requirements. The session demonstrates why accessibility is not simply an add-on and explores lessons learned for creating more inclusive digital content.

Following the European Accessibility Act's implementation in June 2025, DHL's cross-divisional web presence established a stringent new policy: only WCAG 2.1 Level AA conformant PDFs may be published (B2B-exclusive content excepted). But what does this mean in practice for the teams responsible for implementation? Insights from one year of hands-on experience.

What if accessible PDFs could make AI more reliable? Thomas Schempp and Tamás Nemes show how explicit document structure helps AI interpret headings, tables and content relationships. In a live demo, two RAG chatbots answer the same questions: one based on standard PDFs, the other on accessible versions of the same documents.

Accessible PDFs from Word, without the headache? In this session, Klaas Posselt shows how axesWord gets you there, even if you’re new to the topic. You’ll see how the axesWord Accessibility Checker catches issues before you export, so there’s no tedious fixing afterwards. And the highlight is axesWord’s brand-new form feature, which lets you build accessible, fillable PDF forms straight from Word, labels and all.

Accessibility should not be treated as the final step of digital communication. It starts much earlier ‒ with structured data, intelligent processes and systems that are designed to work for everyone.
This talk explores how AI, data quality and digital colleagues can simplify workflows, improve information quality and enable accessible omnichannel communication across documents, web, mobile, messaging and other digital touchpoints. The result is not only better accessibility, but also more efficient processes, more consistent data and a better experience for both customers and employees.

This talk is about the myths, assumptions, and outdated knowledge that still shape how organizations deal with PDFs. The problem calls for a large-scale, organization-wide approach. Can AI deliver that, or is that just another myth? Are remediators and document designers out of business? Expect recognizable situations, some humor, and arguments you can use the very next day.

In this talk, Umut Gultekin takes you on an expedition through the PDF accessibility jungle. He shows how to see the whole forest by finding and testing every PDF on your website in minutes, how to spot the trees (PDFs) the laws require you to fix, and how to examine them up close with PAC. Along the way, you will learn to recognise the colourful but poisonous frogs: vendors whose quick fixes and scare tactics look appealing but leave the real problem untouched.