Upload .tex, .cls, .sty, a project .zip, or a compiled PDF. It checks tagging setup, alt text, language and title metadata, math accessibility, and preamble package conflicts. Reports back what passes, what fails, and why. Free, no signup, files discarded after the check.
Try now: https://thelatexlab.com/latex-accessibility-checker/
What the tool checks
Report comes back with a score, a grade, and a category breakdown: math readiness, source readiness, tagging and structure, visual, metadata.
Full list of checks:
- Tagging enabled or not. Some templates support tagging but ship with it commented out. Flags this separately from templates that don't support tagging at all.
- MathML. Checks if equations have MathML, source-as-alt, or manual alt. If none, flags math as unreadable to screen readers.
- Package/dependency conflicts. Cross-checks loaded packages and classes against the LaTeX Tagging Project dataset. Flags anything currently incompatible with tagging, lineno and listings are common ones. Also flags obsolete accessibility packages, accessibility.sty, axessibility, accsupp, that predate kernel tagging and don't actually work.
- Engine check. Full tagging and MathML need LuaLaTeX. Flags it if tagging is requested on pdflatex, since pdflatex can't produce it.
- Color contrast. Checks link, cite, and file colors against a 4.5:1 contrast minimum. Flags colors it can't resolve (e.g. custom-defined colors not in the uploaded files) as unverifiable instead of silently passing them.
- Alt text on images. Checks every \includegraphics for an alt= description.
- Document language. Checks for a declared lang in DocumentMetadata.
- PDF title and metadata. Checks pdftitle, author, subject, keywords are set.
- Hard-coded visual headings. Flags headings faked with font size and bold instead of \section, since those carry no structure for assistive tech.
- Non-descriptive link text. Flags link text like "here" or "click here."
Report also splits the score by whose job each fix is: template capability (the maintainer's job), build configuration (tagging/language/engine flags), and author content (alt text, links, metadata). Useful if you're a student using someone else's template and want to know what you can actually fix versus what needs the template maintainer.
Every finding comes with the specific WCAG success criterion it maps to, a plain explanation, a fix, and a confidence level, since some checks (like contrast on colors it can't fully resolve) are estimates, not certainties.
PDF tagging in current LaTeX
Most guides still point people to accessibility.sty. That package is dead. Breaks tagging on current TeX Live. The real fix is in the kernel now.
\DocumentMetadata{tagging=on}
\documentclass{article}
Compiled with LuaLaTeX, on TeX Live 2025 or newer. No extra package needed for basic tagging. This is the single biggest factor in whether a LaTeX document meets WCAG 2.1 AA.
Alt text, language, and title metadata
Alt text on meaningful images, via \includegraphics[alt=…]{fig1}. Declared document language. A real title, not just a filename, plus hyperref metadata. These three account for most of the actual WCAG 2.1 AA failures in real thesis and journal templates.
Math accessibility and MathML
Equations need to compile to MathML, not stay a flat image. MathML is what NVDA+MathCAT and JAWS can actually navigate. Needs tagging-setup={math/setup=mathml-SE} and PDF/UA-2 output via pdfstandard=ua-2. This is the hardest part of accessibility for STEM documents and most tools skip it entirely.
Package conflicts that break tagging
titlesec breaks tagging. beamer too. Old university thesis classes and journal templates load these without anyone noticing. Document looks completely normal, fails WCAG 2.1 AA anyway, and it's not obvious why unless you check the preamble.
ADA Title II deadlines
DOJ's 2024 rule requires WCAG 2.1 AA for state and local government entities, public universities included. Covers theses, dissertations, journal submissions hosted by the institution, course materials. After the 2026 extension: April 2027 deadline for entities with population 50,000 or more, April 2028 for smaller entities and special district governments.
University LaTeX Thesis Template Service
TheLaTeXLab also provide University LaTeX Thesis Template Service for ADA Title II and WCAG 2.1 AA compliance. Manual remediation on existing LaTeX thesis or journal templates, so every future compile comes out tagged correctly, with proper reading order, alt text, MathML math, and bookmarks, instead of fixing it document by document. Built the checker after seeing how often customers on that service couldn't identify what was actually broken in their own templates.
Feedback welcome
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