Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 available

The PDF Association and the PDF/UA Technical Working Group announced that Matterhorn Protocol version 1.1 is available. This is the 2021 update with a new error condition and several clarifications. More information is available here.

Version 1.1 is now available and consists of 31 checkpoints with 136 error conditions.

What is the Matterhorn Protocol?​

The Matterhorn Protocol was created with one primary goal: to help software developers and users understand the PDF/UA format (ISO standard for accessible PDF documents) and enable consistent document validation.

Climbing the Matterhorn​

The PDF Association published the Matterhorn Protocol as a mandatory validation catalog for accessible PDF documents and forms.

PDF/UA, published in 2012 as ISO 14289, defines the creation and processing of accessible PDF documents. The PDF/UA Competence Center, an initiative of the PDF Association, created a comprehensive list of criteria that identify violations of the PDF/UA-1 standard. This list is known as the Matterhorn Protocol. It provides core guidance for accessibility checks and is intended for developers and anyone responsible for accessibility validation.

Accessibility validation​

PDF documents often need accessibility checks. This includes verifying that tagged PDF files are PDF/UA-compliant and addressing the tagging of untagged PDF files.

Bringing untagged PDFs into PDF/UA conformance is not trivial and cannot be done by automation alone. The Matterhorn Protocol helps both in verifying conformance and in documenting the required manual effort. It also helps developers who are not yet familiar with all PDF/UA details to get started faster, which can accelerate product and code development.

Source​

Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 (PDF Association):

https://www.pdfa.org/rules-for-accessible-pdf-matterhorn-protocol-1-1-is-now-available/