If you need to make PDFs accessible, you will quickly come across the same names: Adobe Acrobat Pro, CommonLook, Equidox – and, if you work in Europe, Access Doc. All four help you reach accessible PDFs that conform to PDF/UA, but they take very different routes to get there. Some put a powerful tool in the hands of your own team. Others take the work off your desk entirely.
In this comparison we look at how each solution works, who does the actual remediation work, how well it scales to large document archives and which standards the vendors name. One thing up front, for transparency: Access Doc is our own product. That is why we stick to what the vendors state publicly about their products and link to the sources, so you can check every point yourself.
The short answer: which tool fits which situation?
- Adobe Acrobat Pro fits teams that remediate a manageable number of documents themselves and have staff trained in tagging and reading order.
- CommonLook PDF fits organisations that want to remediate in-house with specialised tooling and validation against several standards.
- Equidox fits teams that prefer a web-based remediation tool with detection tools for reading order, lists and tables, in the cloud or on-premises.
- Access Doc fits organisations that do not want to tie up their own staff: documents are remediated to PDF/UA and reviewed by experts, one at a time or as an entire archive straight from your system.
Three ways to make PDFs accessible
Before comparing features, it helps to be clear about the basic approach. There are essentially three ways to remediate PDFs:
- Do it yourself in desktop software. Your team tags documents, sets the reading order, adds alternative text and checks the result. You need software licences, time and expertise.
- Do it yourself with specialised remediation software. Dedicated tools support your team with detection, wizards and validation. The work is faster and more structured, but it still happens in your organisation.
- Hand it over. Documents are remediated for you, either as a project-based service or through a platform that connects to your systems. Your team decides what is processed and keeps control, but does not have to do the remediation itself.
Which approach is right depends far less on individual features than on three questions: how many documents you have, whether your team has the expertise and the time, and how quickly you need results.
Comparison at a glance
The overview is based on the vendors’ public product information as of November 2026. Features and offers can change, so please check the linked sources before you decide.
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | CommonLook PDF (Allyant) | Equidox | Access Doc (ifdb) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approach | Desktop software with accessibility tools | Remediation software, offered as an Acrobat plug-in and, according to Allyant, also with web-based access | Web-based remediation software, as SaaS or on-premises | Remediation platform with expert review |
| Who does the remediation | Your team | Your team; Allyant also offers separate remediation services | Your team; Equidox also offers managed remediation services | ifdb; your team uploads or connects documents and keeps control |
| Support during remediation | Autotagging, Accessibility Checker, Reading Order tool | AI-driven tagging, Fix Wizard, simplified and advanced editor | AI-powered detection of zones, lists and tables, HTML preview | Experts review reading order, tables and alternative text on every document |
| Standards named by the vendor | PDF/UA, WCAG 2.0 | WCAG, PDF/UA, HHS; with reference to Section 508, ADA Title II and EAA | WCAG, ADA, Section 508 | PDF/UA (ISO 14289), WCAG 2.2; with reference to EAA, BFSG, BITV 2.0 and EN 301 549 |
| Large volumes | Review and fixes per document in the desktop app | Separate automation solutions for templated documents | Custom batch processing via REST API for large volumes of similar documents | Bulk processing and integration via API and webhooks, from single documents to tens of thousands |
| Proof | Accessibility Checker report; several rules require manual checks | Validation report per file | Heading validation before export, HTML preview | Conformance report per document, organisation-wide dashboard |
Adobe Acrobat Pro
If your organisation already works with Acrobat Pro, you have a set of accessibility tools at hand. They include automatic tagging, an Accessibility Checker and the Reading Order tool. According to Adobe, the checker verifies whether a document conforms to accessibility standards such as PDF/UA and WCAG 2.0.
What you should know: Adobe itself marks several checks as “Needs Manual Check”, including the logical reading order. The checker therefore gives you a valuable starting point, but it does not replace a human review. Whether a table is read correctly by a screen reader or the reading order makes sense still has to be judged by someone who knows what to look for.
Good fit if you remediate a manageable number of documents, have trained staff and want to stay inside a tool you already use.
Consider the time per document and the expertise required. With large archives or recurring documents, manual remediation in Acrobat quickly ties up a lot of capacity.
CommonLook PDF
CommonLook PDF belongs to Allyant’s CommonLook suite. Allyant describes it as AI-powered remediation software with automated tagging for tables, lists, forms and other elements, a Fix Wizard for identified issues and validation against WCAG, PDF/UA and HHS. Each file gets a validation report with passed, failed and warning counts. The suite also includes a free validator plug-in for Acrobat Pro and tools for creating accessible PDFs from Word and PowerPoint.
For larger volumes, Allyant offers separate remediation services and automation solutions for high-volume templated documents such as forms and reports.
Good fit if you want to remediate in-house with specialised tooling and validate against several standards.
Consider that the software supports your team but does not replace it. Allyant itself notes that automation-only tools typically do not deliver a conformance guarantee.
Equidox
Equidox is web-based remediation software, available as cloud-based SaaS or on-premises. Its AI-powered tools detect zones, lists and tables, help set the reading order and let you add alternative text page by page or in bulk. An HTML preview helps you check the result, and several people can work on the same document.
Equidox also offers managed remediation services, for example to reduce a backlog during onboarding, and a custom batch process via REST API for large volumes of similar documents such as bank statements. According to Equidox, this requires custom templates and is set up case by case.
Good fit if your team wants to remediate in a browser-based tool, possibly on your own infrastructure.
Consider that standard remediation still happens in your team, and that the automated batch route is a custom project rather than a standard product.
Access Doc
Access Doc takes a different approach: instead of giving your team a remediation tool, it takes the remediation off your desk. You upload PDFs one at a time via drag and drop or connect entire collections directly from your system through our interface. Access Doc recognises structure, reading order and content and remediates the documents to PDF/UA. Our experts then review what software cannot reliably assess, such as reading order, tables and alternative text.
Every document comes back with a conformance report. An organisation-wide dashboard shows where your document inventory stands. For large archives we agree on milestones, and older documents can also be remediated on request: one click is enough, and the interface processes the document in the background. Particularly complex documents, such as extensive annual reports, go to our audit team. Documents are processed in line with the GDPR.
Good fit if you have a large or growing document inventory, cannot spare staff for remediation or want to connect remediation directly to your systems.
Consider that scanned PDFs without a text layer need additional steps, which we agree on depending on your inventory.
Which questions should drive your decision?
In our conversations, the decision rarely depends on a single feature. These questions help you find the right approach:
- Volume: Are we talking about a few dozen documents or thousands of pages, perhaps an entire archive?
- Expertise: Does your team know how to tag documents, set a logical reading order and structure complex tables?
- Capacity: Can you spare staff for remediation over months, or do they need to focus on other tasks?
- Recurring documents: Do new documents keep coming in, such as invoices, statements or forms? Then it is worth fixing the template and connecting remediation to your systems.
- Proof: Do you need a documented result per document for audits, procurement or regulators?
- Data protection: Where and under which rules are your documents processed?
Where Access Doc is not the right choice
A fair comparison also includes this: if you only have a handful of documents, a trained team and enough time, Acrobat Pro may be all you need. And if remediating in-house is a strategic decision for your organisation, specialised software like CommonLook or Equidox may suit you better. Access Doc is designed for organisations that want accessible PDFs without building up their own remediation team.
Start with a free check
Whichever route you choose, it pays to know where your documents stand first. With Access Read you can check your PDFs against PDF/UA for free, without registration. If you then want to hand over remediation, Access Doc takes it from there. You can find more background in our guide to accessible PDFs.
Frequently asked questions
What is PDF remediation?
PDF remediation means making an existing PDF accessible after the fact: adding tags, setting a logical reading order, structuring tables, adding alternative text and making forms usable. The common standard for accessible PDFs is PDF/UA (ISO 14289).
Is Adobe Acrobat Pro enough to make PDFs accessible?
It can be, if your team has the expertise and the number of documents is manageable. Acrobat Pro provides tagging, an Accessibility Checker and the Reading Order tool. Adobe notes that several checks, including the logical reading order, have to be verified manually.
Can PDF remediation be done without human review?
Software can take over a large part of the work, but some aspects still need a human: whether the reading order makes sense, whether a table is understandable with a screen reader and whether alternative text describes an image correctly. Allyant also points out that automation-only tools typically do not deliver a conformance guarantee.
How do I remediate thousands of PDFs?
Take stock first, prioritise frequently used documents, remediate in milestones and fix templates for recurring documents such as invoices. Rarely used older documents can be remediated on request. Our guide to document archives explains this approach step by step.
Which standard should accessible PDFs meet?
For PDFs, PDF/UA (ISO 14289) is the established standard. It is closely linked to WCAG, which European regulations such as the European Accessibility Act refer to via EN 301 549.
Information on third-party products is based on the vendors’ public websites as of November 2026 and may change. Adobe and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe; CommonLook is a trademark of Allyant; Equidox is a trademark of Equidox Software Company. Sources: Adobe Help Center, Allyant: CommonLook PDF, Allyant: PDF document solutions, Equidox: PDF accessibility software, Equidox: PDF remediation services, Equidox: automated batch processing.
