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raeben3
raeben3
Inspiring
January 5, 2024
Question

PAC: PDF Accessibility Checker error - "Document language metadata is not ISO-compliant."

  • January 5, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 2366 views

I am seeing a WCAG error in PAC that I've never seen before, "Document language metadata is not ISO-compliant."  This is a simple 1-page PDF generated using Acrobat plug-in in Word. Acrobat version is 2023.008.20458.  Language in the file is set to English. There are no other language assignments on the Tags or Content. Is this a result of today's (1/5/24) update?  I can reproduce the error on another file by doing a Save As from Acrobat, but it also goes away once I Save As Optimized.  I cannot resolve this error.  The file is tagged correctly, has no images, form fields, attachments or other features. It's a very simple text only file that reads well using a screen reader, but this error persists.

    2 replies

    G
    go-man-go
    Participant
    April 22, 2025

    Does the PDF have security settings? I get this error when checking the PDF/UA in PAC2024 if I protect the PDF against changes. Even if I omit the metadata, this error occurs.

    Robert

      G
      GeekyWhiteGuy
      Participant
      June 13, 2024

      I've had this same error multiple times but have no idea how to fix it.

       

      Anyone?

      Souvik Sadhu
      Community Manager
      Souvik SadhuCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      January 6, 2025

      Hi @raeben3 @GeekyWhiteGuy,

       

      Hope you are doing well. Sorry for the trouble, and the delayed response.

       

      If you are still looking for a solution, you might want to check the root element in the tags panel.

      This seems like an issue with the document's /lang tag not being set to English, which is causing the error.

       

      You can check using the below steps:

      • Open the Tags pane in Acrobat (View > Show/Hide > Navigation Panes > Tags).
      • Right-click the root tag (<Document> or similar) and choose Properties.
      • Ensure the /Lang attribute is explicitly set to en or en-US.

      If this does not work, please share the file with me so I can have a better check at it.

       


      -Souvik

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