What does PAC check, and what remains?

At this source check, the current download is PAC 2026.1 for Windows 10 or 11, requiring .NET Framework 4.8 or later. Mac users therefore need access to a suitable Windows environment for this tool. Check the download page’s requirements before installation.

PAC provides PDF accessibility checks and inspection views. Its current website describes PAC 2026 and AI-assisted checks. AI assistance does not remove the need to verify whether a finding is correct for the document.

Sources: [1], [3]

Start by checking the filename, tool version and requirements covered by the report. A saved result for an earlier working copy cannot establish the state of the file in front of you. Retain the initial report to distinguish original defects from problems introduced during repair.

Move from the summary to one finding. Locate its object and establish what the report actually shows. Is a required property absent, does a property have an incorrect value, or is human judgement needed about meaning? These situations can require very different repairs.

Repeated findings may share one cause. A faulty source heading style can affect many pages. Repair a representative case and inspect the outcome before applying the change everywhere. Counts help track work, but do not independently express the severity of a reader’s barrier.

Save the initial report. Select a finding, locate its object in the PDF and compare it with the page content. Rerun the check after repair. Save the result for the new file so before and after remain distinguishable.

A structural preview can help reveal problems. It is not the same observation as a person navigating with an actual screen reader.

Use the structural preview to ask concrete questions. Does a caption follow the right image? Does a footer interrupt a sentence? Has a table become a run of text? Follow the corresponding object in the tag structure. The preview can expose a problem while the structure helps explain its cause.

Also check what a repair removed. Marking a meaningful chart as decoration may eliminate a missing-description error while making its information unavailable. That produces a shorter failure list and a worse document. Compare changes in the report with the reader’s task.

The check identifies an image without a description. Writing Graphic may remove the technical error. Instead, compare the image’s message with the text: could a reader understand the important information without seeing it? Record that judgement separately.

A useful status might say: “PAC run on report-v3.pdf with the recorded version. Chart questions on page 8 assessed in the attached notes. Practical table testing remains outstanding.” This communicates progress without concealing unfinished work.

When receiving someone else’s PAC report, request file identity and evidence for manual judgements. The report’s visual status aids the work; it does not replace an explanation of what was reviewed and what readers can do.

• The PAC version used.
• The file assessed.
• Remaining failures and manual questions reviewed.
• What was tested with a screen reader and what was not.