Language and document title in PDF

Set the document’s main language. A longer passage in another language may need its own language property in the structure. A Swedish document containing an English quotation should not treat the entire quotation as Swedish.

Codes such as sv-SE and en-GB identify language and sometimes region. Choose according to the content, not the company’s office location.

Sources: [1], [3]

The document’s main language supplies a baseline for interpretation. An English summary in a Swedish report should receive an appropriate language property in the structure. Changing the whole file to English to improve that summary may worsen pronunciation elsewhere.

Identify coherent passages where language changes matter. Proper names and established borrowed words require judgement; not every word of foreign origin automatically needs its own language marker. WCAG’s language-of-parts criterion has explicit exceptions that should be read in context.

Test in an environment supporting language switching with the necessary voices available. If pronunciation does not change, distinguish document markup from screen-reader settings. Poor pronunciation is an observation to investigate, not conclusive proof that the file’s language code is wrong.

School travel guidelines 2026 says more than final_v7.pdf. Complete the document title field and check the option to display the document title. A useful filename helps, but does not replace that metadata.

Choose a title that makes sense when several documents are open. “Decision” is less useful than “Travel grant decision, autumn term 2026”. Include an edition or period when needed to distinguish documents, and avoid internal working names understood only by the project team.

Export can inherit an old template title even after the cover changes. The visible title may be correct while properties still describe last year’s report. Inspect the exported file’s properties and compare them with its content. Also check whether the reader displays the document title or filename.

Sources: [2]

Test again after merging PDFs. A Swedish report and an English appendix may acquire one document language without preserving the appendix language at passage level. Recheck bookmarks and title too, so the combined delivery is identifiable and navigable.

• Is the title correct in document properties?
• Does the reader display the intended title?
• Are the main language and meaningful language changes identified?
• Are abbreviations and proper names understandable without altering the source text’s meaning?