Getting Started
Text Formatting
Mathematical Expressions
Making LaTeX Documents Accessible
Universities, journals, and funding agencies increasingly require accessible documents. A standard LaTeX PDF is essentially inaccessible to screen readers — equations are images, reading order is undefined, and there's no document structure. Here's how to fix that.
LaTeX accessibility tooling is improving rapidly but is still maturing. Some of the packages below are under active development. This guide reflects the state of the art as of early 2026.
Why LaTeX PDFs Are Inaccessible by Default
A standard PDF produced by pdflatex or lualatex has several accessibility problems:
- No tag structure — Screen readers can't distinguish headings from paragraphs from figure captions. The PDF is a flat stream of characters.
- Math is opaque — Equations are rendered as glyph sequences with no semantic meaning. A screen reader sees individual characters, not "x squared plus y squared equals z squared."
- No alt text on figures — Images have no text descriptions for visually impaired readers.
- Reading order is ambiguous — Multi-column layouts, floats, and sidebars can cause screen readers to read content out of order.
- No Unicode mapping — Many LaTeX fonts don't map glyphs to Unicode characters, so copy-paste produces garbled text.
The Two Key Standards
PDF/UA (ISO 14289)
The standard for accessible PDFs. Requires tagged structure, alt text for images, Unicode text mapping, and defined reading order. This is what universities and government agencies mean when they say "accessible PDF."
WCAG 2.1 / 2.2
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. While designed for the web, WCAG principles apply to PDFs too. Many institutions require WCAG AA compliance for all published documents.
Making Math Accessible: MathML
MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) is an XML-based standard for describing math semantically. When MathML is embedded in a tagged PDF, screen readers can read equations aloud meaningfully — saying "x squared plus y squared equals z squared" instead of "x 2 plus y 2 equals z 2."
Option 1: tagpdf + LaTeX (Recommended)
The tagpdf package (by the LaTeX Project team) is the official approach to creating tagged, accessible PDFs from LaTeX. As of 2025-2026, the LaTeX Project has been integrating tagging support directly into the LaTeX kernel.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tagpdf}
\tagpdfsetup{
activate-all, % enable tagging for the whole document
uncompress % easier debugging (remove for final)
}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\section{Accessible Math Example}
The quadratic formula is:
\[
x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}
\]
\end{document}Compile with lualatex (required for full tagging support). The output PDF will contain tagged structure for headings, paragraphs, and math.
Option 2: accessibility / axessibility Package
The axessibility package takes a different approach: it embeds the LaTeX source of each equation as alt text in the PDF. Screen readers then read the LaTeX code, which is imperfect but better than nothing.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{axessibility} % adds LaTeX source as alt text for math
\begin{document}
The equation $E = mc^2$ will have alt text containing
the LaTeX source code \texttt{E = mc\^{}2}.
\end{document}This works with pdflatex and is easier to set up than full tagging, but the output is less accessible than proper MathML.
Option 3: HTML Output with MathJax/KaTeX
If your goal is web accessibility rather than PDF accessibility, converting LaTeX to HTML with MathJax or KaTeX rendering is often the best path. MathJax automatically generates MathML and ARIA labels for every equation, making them fully accessible to screen readers.
Tools like tex4ht (via make4ht), pandoc, and latexml can convert LaTeX documents to HTML with MathML output:
# Convert LaTeX to HTML with MathML using pandoc
pandoc paper.tex -o paper.html --mathml
# Or using make4ht for more control
make4ht paper.tex "mathml"
# Or using latexml for high-fidelity conversion
latexml paper.tex | latexmlpost --dest=paper.htmlConverting Inaccessible Documents?
Underleaf's Image to LaTeX and PDF to LaTeX tools can extract equations from scanned or image-based PDFs back into editable LaTeX. From there, you can recompile with accessibility packages to produce a tagged, accessible version.
Try It Free
Alt Text for Figures
Every figure in your document should have descriptive alt text. The hyperref package's pdfauthor and related options don't cover figures. Instead, use tagpdf or the \pdftooltip approach:
% With tagpdf (recommended)
\tagstructbegin{tag=Figure,alt={Bar chart showing accuracy
improving from 72\% to 94\% across four model sizes}}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{results.pdf}
\tagstructend
% Simple approach: add alt text via hyperref tooltip
\pdftooltip{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{results.pdf}}
{Bar chart showing accuracy improving from 72 to 94 percent}Writing good alt text for academic figures:
- Describe the key finding, not just the chart type ("Bar chart showing accuracy improving from 72% to 94%" not just "bar chart")
- For complex figures, provide a brief summary and reference a longer description in the caption or appendix
- For diagrams, describe the structure and relationships, not every visual detail
- For photos, describe what is relevant to the paper's argument
Tagged PDF Structure
A tagged PDF maps document elements (headings, paragraphs, lists, tables) to a logical structure tree. This is what screen readers use to navigate the document. With tagpdf and lualatex, most standard LaTeX elements are tagged automatically:
Practical Checklist
A step-by-step approach to making your LaTeX document more accessible, ordered from easiest to most involved:
- Add
hyperrefwith document metadata\usepackage[pdftitle={Your Paper Title}, pdfauthor={Author Name}, pdflang={en-US}]{hyperref} - Use semantic commands — Use
\section,\subsection,\caption, and\labelconsistently. Avoid manual formatting hacks like\textbffor headings. - Add alt text to all figures — Every
\includegraphicsshould have a descriptive text alternative. - Use
axessibilityfor quick math accessibility — One line in your preamble gives all equations LaTeX-source alt text. - Switch to
lualatex+tagpdffor full tagging — This produces properly structured tagged PDFs. Requires more setup but gives the best results. - Validate with PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) — Run your PDF through PAC or Adobe Acrobat's accessibility checker to identify remaining issues.
- Provide an HTML alternative — For maximum accessibility, offer an HTML version alongside the PDF. MathJax renders equations with full MathML and ARIA support.
Common Questions
Do journals accept tagged PDFs?
Most journals don't require tagged PDFs yet, but this is changing. The American Mathematical Society, IEEE, and several publishers are actively working on accessible publishing pipelines. Submitting a tagged PDF won't cause problems — the tags don't affect visual appearance.
Does tagpdf work with all packages?
Not yet. The tagpdf package works well with standard LaTeX classes and common packages, but some specialized packages may produce untagged content. The LaTeX Project is actively expanding compatibility. Check the tagpdf documentation for the current status.
Can screen readers actually read math from PDFs?
It depends. Screen readers like JAWS and NVDA can read MathML embedded in tagged PDFs, but support varies. HTML with MathJax currently provides the most reliable screen reader experience for math. The axessibility approach (LaTeX source as alt text) is a pragmatic middle ground.
My university requires accessible documents. What's the minimum I should do?
At minimum: add document metadata via hyperref, use semantic structure (\section not bold text for headings), add alt text to figures, and use axessibility for math. This covers the most impactful accessibility improvements with minimal effort.
What about Overleaf? Can I make accessible PDFs there?
Yes, partially. Overleaf supports axessibility and basic hyperref metadata. For full tagpdf support you need lualatex as the compiler, which Overleaf offers in project settings.
What is MathML and why does it matter?
MathML is an XML standard for representing math semantically. Instead of describing how an equation looks (glyph positions), it describes what the equation means (fractions, roots, variables). Screen readers use MathML to read equations aloud in natural language. It's supported in all modern browsers and is the W3C standard for accessible math on the web.
Next Steps
Start with the basics — metadata and figure alt text give the most impact for the least effort. Then explore tagging and MathML as your workflow allows.
Making LaTeX Documents Accessible
Universities, journals, and funding agencies increasingly require accessible documents. A standard LaTeX PDF is essentially inaccessible to screen readers — equations are images, reading order is undefined, and there's no document structure. Here's how to fix that.
LaTeX accessibility tooling is improving rapidly but is still maturing. Some of the packages below are under active development. This guide reflects the state of the art as of early 2026.
Why LaTeX PDFs Are Inaccessible by Default
A standard PDF produced by pdflatex or lualatex has several accessibility problems:
- No tag structure — Screen readers can't distinguish headings from paragraphs from figure captions. The PDF is a flat stream of characters.
- Math is opaque — Equations are rendered as glyph sequences with no semantic meaning. A screen reader sees individual characters, not "x squared plus y squared equals z squared."
- No alt text on figures — Images have no text descriptions for visually impaired readers.
- Reading order is ambiguous — Multi-column layouts, floats, and sidebars can cause screen readers to read content out of order.
- No Unicode mapping — Many LaTeX fonts don't map glyphs to Unicode characters, so copy-paste produces garbled text.
The Two Key Standards
PDF/UA (ISO 14289)
The standard for accessible PDFs. Requires tagged structure, alt text for images, Unicode text mapping, and defined reading order. This is what universities and government agencies mean when they say "accessible PDF."
WCAG 2.1 / 2.2
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. While designed for the web, WCAG principles apply to PDFs too. Many institutions require WCAG AA compliance for all published documents.
Making Math Accessible: MathML
MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) is an XML-based standard for describing math semantically. When MathML is embedded in a tagged PDF, screen readers can read equations aloud meaningfully — saying "x squared plus y squared equals z squared" instead of "x 2 plus y 2 equals z 2."
Option 1: tagpdf + LaTeX (Recommended)
The tagpdf package (by the LaTeX Project team) is the official approach to creating tagged, accessible PDFs from LaTeX. As of 2025-2026, the LaTeX Project has been integrating tagging support directly into the LaTeX kernel.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tagpdf}
\tagpdfsetup{
activate-all, % enable tagging for the whole document
uncompress % easier debugging (remove for final)
}
\usepackage{amsmath}
\begin{document}
\section{Accessible Math Example}
The quadratic formula is:
\[
x = \frac{-b \pm \sqrt{b^2 - 4ac}}{2a}
\]
\end{document}Compile with lualatex (required for full tagging support). The output PDF will contain tagged structure for headings, paragraphs, and math.
Option 2: accessibility / axessibility Package
The axessibility package takes a different approach: it embeds the LaTeX source of each equation as alt text in the PDF. Screen readers then read the LaTeX code, which is imperfect but better than nothing.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{axessibility} % adds LaTeX source as alt text for math
\begin{document}
The equation $E = mc^2$ will have alt text containing
the LaTeX source code \texttt{E = mc\^{}2}.
\end{document}This works with pdflatex and is easier to set up than full tagging, but the output is less accessible than proper MathML.
Option 3: HTML Output with MathJax/KaTeX
If your goal is web accessibility rather than PDF accessibility, converting LaTeX to HTML with MathJax or KaTeX rendering is often the best path. MathJax automatically generates MathML and ARIA labels for every equation, making them fully accessible to screen readers.
Tools like tex4ht (via make4ht), pandoc, and latexml can convert LaTeX documents to HTML with MathML output:
# Convert LaTeX to HTML with MathML using pandoc
pandoc paper.tex -o paper.html --mathml
# Or using make4ht for more control
make4ht paper.tex "mathml"
# Or using latexml for high-fidelity conversion
latexml paper.tex | latexmlpost --dest=paper.htmlConverting Inaccessible Documents?
Underleaf's Image to LaTeX and PDF to LaTeX tools can extract equations from scanned or image-based PDFs back into editable LaTeX. From there, you can recompile with accessibility packages to produce a tagged, accessible version.
Try It Free
Alt Text for Figures
Every figure in your document should have descriptive alt text. The hyperref package's pdfauthor and related options don't cover figures. Instead, use tagpdf or the \pdftooltip approach:
% With tagpdf (recommended)
\tagstructbegin{tag=Figure,alt={Bar chart showing accuracy
improving from 72\% to 94\% across four model sizes}}
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{results.pdf}
\tagstructend
% Simple approach: add alt text via hyperref tooltip
\pdftooltip{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{results.pdf}}
{Bar chart showing accuracy improving from 72 to 94 percent}Writing good alt text for academic figures:
- Describe the key finding, not just the chart type ("Bar chart showing accuracy improving from 72% to 94%" not just "bar chart")
- For complex figures, provide a brief summary and reference a longer description in the caption or appendix
- For diagrams, describe the structure and relationships, not every visual detail
- For photos, describe what is relevant to the paper's argument
Tagged PDF Structure
A tagged PDF maps document elements (headings, paragraphs, lists, tables) to a logical structure tree. This is what screen readers use to navigate the document. With tagpdf and lualatex, most standard LaTeX elements are tagged automatically:
Practical Checklist
A step-by-step approach to making your LaTeX document more accessible, ordered from easiest to most involved:
- Add
hyperrefwith document metadata\usepackage[pdftitle={Your Paper Title}, pdfauthor={Author Name}, pdflang={en-US}]{hyperref} - Use semantic commands — Use
\section,\subsection,\caption, and\labelconsistently. Avoid manual formatting hacks like\textbffor headings. - Add alt text to all figures — Every
\includegraphicsshould have a descriptive text alternative. - Use
axessibilityfor quick math accessibility — One line in your preamble gives all equations LaTeX-source alt text. - Switch to
lualatex+tagpdffor full tagging — This produces properly structured tagged PDFs. Requires more setup but gives the best results. - Validate with PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) — Run your PDF through PAC or Adobe Acrobat's accessibility checker to identify remaining issues.
- Provide an HTML alternative — For maximum accessibility, offer an HTML version alongside the PDF. MathJax renders equations with full MathML and ARIA support.
Common Questions
Do journals accept tagged PDFs?
Most journals don't require tagged PDFs yet, but this is changing. The American Mathematical Society, IEEE, and several publishers are actively working on accessible publishing pipelines. Submitting a tagged PDF won't cause problems — the tags don't affect visual appearance.
Does tagpdf work with all packages?
Not yet. The tagpdf package works well with standard LaTeX classes and common packages, but some specialized packages may produce untagged content. The LaTeX Project is actively expanding compatibility. Check the tagpdf documentation for the current status.
Can screen readers actually read math from PDFs?
It depends. Screen readers like JAWS and NVDA can read MathML embedded in tagged PDFs, but support varies. HTML with MathJax currently provides the most reliable screen reader experience for math. The axessibility approach (LaTeX source as alt text) is a pragmatic middle ground.
My university requires accessible documents. What's the minimum I should do?
At minimum: add document metadata via hyperref, use semantic structure (\section not bold text for headings), add alt text to figures, and use axessibility for math. This covers the most impactful accessibility improvements with minimal effort.
What about Overleaf? Can I make accessible PDFs there?
Yes, partially. Overleaf supports axessibility and basic hyperref metadata. For full tagpdf support you need lualatex as the compiler, which Overleaf offers in project settings.
What is MathML and why does it matter?
MathML is an XML standard for representing math semantically. Instead of describing how an equation looks (glyph positions), it describes what the equation means (fractions, roots, variables). Screen readers use MathML to read equations aloud in natural language. It's supported in all modern browsers and is the W3C standard for accessible math on the web.
Next Steps
Start with the basics — metadata and figure alt text give the most impact for the least effort. Then explore tagging and MathML as your workflow allows.
Getting Started
Text Formatting
Mathematical Expressions