XMP metadata

XMP is the standard format PDFs and other files use to carry metadata about themselves: the document title, author, language, copyright, and any conformance claims the file makes.

It matters for accessibility because two things a reader depends on live there. The title is what a screen reader announces when the document opens, so a file with no XMP title is introduced by its file name instead. And the PDF/UA identifier - the file's formal claim to meet the standard - is an XMP entry too, which is why a well-tagged document can still fail conformance if its metadata is missing or malformed.

XMP is embedded in the file rather than stored alongside it, so it travels with the document wherever it is copied.

Learn more

• XMP Specification (Adobe) - the format, published as ISO 16684-1
• PDF/UA
• Screen reader