Accessible LaTeX Templates (v1.5)

Richard Stanton — UC Berkeley
Mar 21, 2026

https://github.com/rhstanton/accessible_LaTeX

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Overview

As of April 24, 2026, updated ADA rules require digital course materials—including materials on password-protected course sites—to meet accessibility standards (WCAG 2.1 Level AA).

Many instructors write course materials in LaTeX, but standard LaTeX (including Beamer) does not automatically generate accessible PDFs.

This repository provides working templates and migration guidance for creating accessible LaTeX documents that meet those requirements.

📊 Example output

• accessible_slides.pdf
• accessible_article.pdf

The slides document is the most complete example and the best place to start.

Two templates are included:

• accessible_slides.tex — accessible presentation slides using ltx-talk
• accessible_article.tex — accessible article-style documents

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Quick Summary (TL;DR)

Making LaTeX accessible requires five common steps.

These apply to both slides and articles.

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Converting Existing Documents? What to ADD

If you're converting existing LaTeX/Beamer files, here's what to add:

Required for ALL documents

1. At the very top (before \documentclass):

   \DocumentMetadata{
     pdfstandard=a-2u,
     pdfstandard=ua-1,
     pdfversion=1.7,
     lang=en-US,
     tagging=on,
     tagging-setup={
       math/alt/use,
       math/mathml/AF=false,
       math/tex/AF=false,
       math/mathml/sources=
     }
   }

2. In every \includegraphics:

   \includegraphics[alt={Description of image}]{figure}

3. Before every table:

   \tagpdfsetup{table/header-rows={1}}

4. Change compiler to LuaLaTeX

Additional for Beamer slides

5. Change document class:

   \documentclass[frame-title-arg]{ltx-talk}  % was \documentclass{beamer}

   • Keep your \begin{frame} environments as-is
   • Remove Beamer themes/templates/colors
   • Recreate styling with standard LaTeX packages

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Five Common Steps Summary

1. Add \DocumentMetadata before \documentclass
2. Tag images with alt text
3. Tag table header rows
4. Use accessible color contrast
5. Compile with LuaLaTeX

One Class-Specific Step

Document Type	Requirement
Articles	Keep article, report, or book
Slides	Replace beamer with ltx-talk

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Minimal Slides Example

\DocumentMetadata{
  pdfstandard=a-2u,   % PDF/A archival standard
  pdfstandard=ua-1,   % PDF/UA accessibility standard
  pdfversion=1.7,
  lang=en-US,
  tagging=on,
  tagging-setup={
    math/alt/use,
    math/mathml/AF=false,
    math/tex/AF=false,
    math/mathml/sources=
  }
}

\documentclass[frame-title-arg]{ltx-talk}

\tagpdfsetup{role/new-tag=frametitle/H1}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\AtBeginDocument{
  \NewTaggingSocketPlug{talk/sec/title}{none}{}
  \AssignTaggingSocketPlug{talk/sec/title}{none}
}
\ExplSyntaxOff

\title{Accessible LaTeX Slides}
\author{Richard Stanton}

\begin{document}

\maketitle

\begin{frame}{Example Slide}
Accessible math: \(E = mc^2\)
\includegraphics[alt={Example image}]{capybara}
\end{frame}

\end{document}

Compile with:

lualatex example.tex

For full configuration and validator workarounds, see accessible_slides.tex.

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Who This Repository Is For

This repository is intended for:

• instructors creating course materials in LaTeX
• researchers preparing accessible PDFs
• users migrating existing LaTeX documents to WCAG-compliant PDFs

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Article vs Slides

Feature	Articles	Slides
Document class	article, report, book	ltx-talk
Class change needed	No	Yes
Frame environment	N/A	Yes
Beamer themes	N/A	Not supported
Accessibility steps	Same for both	Same for both

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The LaTeX Tagging Project

Both templates use infrastructure from the LaTeX Tagging Project.

https://latex3.github.io/tagging-project/

This provides:

• automatic PDF tagging
• MathML generation
• structured headings
• accessible lists and tables
• PDF/A archival compatibility

Requirements:

• LaTeX kernel 2025-11-01 or later
• TeX Live 2023+ with updates applied

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Quick Start

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/rhstanton/accessible_LaTeX.git
cd accessible_LaTeX

Compile:

lualatex accessible_slides.tex

or

lualatex accessible_article.tex

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Requirements

Minimum environment:

• TeX Live 2023+
• LaTeX kernel 2025-11-01+
• LuaLaTeX

Update packages if necessary:

tlmgr update --all

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Using Overleaf

This template works on Overleaf using the Labs environment.

Steps:

1. Join the Overleaf Labs program
2. Enable Rolling TeX Live releases
3. Set compiler to LuaLaTeX

https://www.overleaf.com/labs/participate

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Repository Layout

accessible_article.tex
accessible_slides.tex
BerkeleyHaas.png
capybara.jpg
rsbibsplit.lua
sample.bib
slide_utils.sty
strip_af.py
.latexmkrc

File	Purpose
accessible_article.tex	example accessible article
accessible_slides.tex	example accessible slides
BerkeleyHaas.png	Berkeley Haas logo
capybara.jpg	sample figure
rsbibsplit.lua	LUA code to split bibliography across multiple slides
sample.bib	sample bibliography file
slide_utils.sty	additional slide utilities
strip_af.py	optional validator cleanup script
.latexmkrc	build configuration

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Key Accessibility Features

Both templates demonstrate:

• tagged document structure
• accessible math (MathML)
• accessible tables
• alt text for images
• accessible color contrast
• accessible links

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DocumentMetadata Configuration

Every accessible document must begin with a \DocumentMetadata{...} block before \documentclass.

\DocumentMetadata{
  pdfstandard=a-2u,
  pdfstandard=ua-1,
  pdfversion=1.7,
  lang=en-US,
  tagging=on,
  tagging-setup={
    math/alt/use,
    math/mathml/AF=false,
    math/tex/AF=false,
    math/mathml/sources=
  }
}

For a complete working example in context, see accessible_slides.tex.

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Common Pitfalls

1. Using an incomplete \DocumentMetadata block

A minimal example may compile, but the recommended configuration is the one used in accessible_slides.tex.

2. Confusing PDF tagging with PDF bookmarks

Important distinction:

• PDF tagging (tagging=on): Creates structure tree for screen readers

  • REQUIRED for accessibility compliance
  • Happens automatically once enabled

• PDF bookmarks: Navigation outline in the left pane

  • NOT required for accessibility
  • Do NOT generate automatically from tagging=on
  • Require custom code (see accessible_slides.tex for example)
  • For articles, use \tableofcontents or the bookmark package

If you want bookmarks in your PDFs, you need to add bookmark-generation code yourself. The slides template includes example code for this.

3. Missing PDF metadata

Some validators require a document title in the XMP metadata.

\title{Document title}
\author{Author name}

4. Missing alt text on images

\includegraphics[alt={Description of image}]{file}

5. Incorrect table header tagging

\tagpdfsetup{table/header-rows={1}}

6. Using the wrong engine

Use LuaLaTeX, not XeLaTeX or pdfLaTeX.

7. Expecting ltx-talk to behave like Beamer

Beamer themes and templates do not transfer directly.

8. Starting from the wrong file

accessible_slides.tex is the most complete example.

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Validator Notes

Different accessibility tools check different aspects of a PDF.

Ally vs archival validators

Ally checks usability and accessibility structure.
veraPDF checks strict PDF/A archival conformance.

Acrobat <Lbl> errors

Lbl and LBody – Failed

This is a known issue with Acrobat’s accessibility checker and can generally be ignored.

PAC table-header warnings

PAC may report:

Table header cell has no associated subcells

even when header rows are tagged correctly.

Validator disagreements

Recommended workflow:

1. Run multiple validators.
2. Compare findings.
3. Investigate structural issues but treat isolated warnings cautiously.

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Optional Validator Cleanup

pip install pikepdf
python strip_af.py build/yourfile.pdf

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Troubleshooting

Undefined \DocumentMetadata

Upgrade to TeX Live 2023+.

ltx-talk.cls not found

Update your TeX distribution.

Compilation is slow

LuaLaTeX is slower than pdfLaTeX.

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Tested Environments

• TeX Live 2025
• MacTeX
• Overleaf Rolling TeX Live
• LuaLaTeX

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Resources

LaTeX Tagging Project
https://latex3.github.io/tagging-project/

WCAG 2.1
https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/

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Acknowledgments

• Andrei Kurbatov — https://github.com/andreigithubK

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License

Released under CC0 1.0 Universal.

No restrictions. No warranty.