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From: Claire Forbes
Date: Jun 18, 2025 7:43AM

Thank you for your reply.
I guess what I’m trying to understand it why is having one <H> tag considered non-compliant when the rest of the heading tags are <H1> or <H2>, <H3>

From: Paul Rayius < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Sent: Tuesday, June 17, 2025 4:58 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Cc: Claire Forbes < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: RE: <H> tags within PDF

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IRONSCALES couldn't recognize this email as this is the first time you received an email from this sender prayius @ allyant.com

Hi Claire,
This is a good question; thanks for asking!
CommonLook PDF throws a failure when a PDF has both and (numbered heading) tags because that is a violation of PDF/UA-1. That said, to address your "other" question, "where does this fail in WCAG": It's important to note that while the WCAG standard does apply very well to PDF, because HTML (web) and PDF are different technologies there is not always a 1:1 mapping between requirements. That said, when it comes to PDF, where there is not a direct alignment between the two specifications, the requirements for PDF have to "win."
I hope that helps explain CommonLook's approach.
Best,
Paul


Paul Rayius, ADS
VP, Customer Support and Training
P: +1 800 563 0668 x5209
E: <EMAIL REMOVED> <mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> >
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