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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
  • 2285 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?

      S_S
      Community Manager
      S_SCommunity 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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