A lot of government PDFs are about to be against the law. Even small agencies have thousands of them. The vast majority of them aren’t accessible–and it’s expensive and time-consuming to fix them.
This is a big problem.
A new audit tool from Code for America
Code for America just released a new AI-powered tool to help you audit your PDFs. It can scan your PDFs and help you:
- Identify documents that might qualify for an exception under the new web accessibility law.
- Flag old PDFs that haven’t been modified recently.
- Find PDFs people need that don’t qualify for an exception.
The archive exception
Under the new accessibility law, some older documents that meet certain criteria may qualify for an exception. If you move these files to a clearly marked archive section, you don’t have to make them accessible—unless someone specifically requests them.
This can save your team a lot of work. But you need a way to figure out which PDFs qualify. That’s what the new audit tool can help you do.
Your website is not a filing cabinet
Too often, PDFs are uploaded and forgotten. They become outdated. This creates confusion for the people who find them, as well as AI tools that use your website to generate answers.
The new audit tool helps you flag PDFs that are old and haven’t been modified recently.
PDFs destroy online services
Many PDFs have information people need to apply for programs, understand local laws, or access services. These files do not qualify for an exception to the law.
And they shouldn’t be PDFs. PDFs are a clunky web experience. They are hard to view on mobile, slow to load. They make your services difficult to access.
Your audit will help you find these critical PDFs. Prioritize converting them into regular web content—ideally in the form of an action page. This will make your services easier to find, understand, and use.
Why you need to audit your PDFs
- It helps you decide what to keep, remove, or archive.
- It saves money by reducing the number of PDFs you need to remediate.
- It helps you shift away from PDFs toward more accessible, usable digital content.
The goal isn’t just compliance. It’s better, more accessible services. And this new tool from Code for America can help you get started.