Accessible LaTeX workflows

Published on: 25/06/2026 · Last updated on: 11/09/2026

Introduction

This article signposts routes to create accessible materials from a LaTeX source. Note that LaTeX created PDFs are not adaptable: PDFs don’t reflow well when zoomed, are hard to copy text from for notes, and aren’t easy to convert into accessible formats. LaTeX PDFs can still be useful, but shouldn’t be the only default format and should be provided with at least an accessible HTML output.

Updated June 2026: The LaTeX tagging project is making progress to make sure equations are properly tagged to work with assistive technologies. However, to be truly accessible to a user, this is reliant on PDF vendors and assistive technology to work well, which is not universally the case. It is still necessary to provide an HTML format to be digitally accessible.

There are many custom packages available to authors that can stop LaTeX documents being transformed to different formats and also stop assistive technologies working. In particular, the beamer presentation class does not create accessible tagged PDFs, with the ltx-talk class an alternative being developed that supports tagged PDF outputs and alternate formats.

Challenges in LaTeX based workflows

LaTeX is a flexible and extensible system, but this flexibility can create accessibility issues or prevent content from working properly in accessible workflows. For existing LaTeX code, this will likely require you to rework some of your existing content.

To create accessible outputs from a LaTeX source, you must:

• pick a workflow that allows you to compile your source into HTML output and PDF.
• only use packages in your preamble that allow this workflow to take place.

Please see the Accessible markdown-based publishing tools article, which gives an alternative non-LaTeX workflows that makes it easier to create accessible, dynamic and flexible outputs.

Accessible LaTeX tools

Chirun

Chirun is a LaTeX publishing suite of tools that transforms LaTeX into accessible formats alongside PDF. See the Chirun tutorial documentation and the Chirun Sample Course for a typical output.

Features

• Creates modern responsive HTML outputs and PDFs.
• A range of different setup options: including a public web-based processor.
• Output formats are controlled separately in with GUI or YAML file.
• Supports other source formats to LaTeX, including markdown.
• Chirun project is still being actively developed at the University of Newcastle.

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BookML

BookML allows you to compile LaTeX source to create an HTML webpage and also PDF output. See BookML documentation for instructions on getting started (and what the bookML output looks like).

Features

• Creates modern responsive HTML outputs and PDFs.
• Different setup options, including a convenient Overleaf to Github publishing workflow
• The BookML project is still being actively developed by colleagues from Leeds and is based on the LaTeXML project.
• Supports a range of common LaTeX packages through LaTeXML support.

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Lwarp

Lwarp is a LaTeX package that converts LaTeX documents into HTML while preserving much of the original document’s structure and formatting.

To get started, see the lwarp package on CTAN, lwarp package documentation and a tex example. The LATeX to HTML with lwarp by Fran Burstall (Department of Mathematics, University of Bath) also provides an excellent practical explainer.

Features

• Creates accessible HTML outputs and PDFs.
• Lwarp is a mature LaTeX package and purely LaTeX toolchain.

Sharing outputs with students

The workflows outlined above will create HTML and PDF content that can be packaged as a standalone mini website. Please follow the guidance for publishing an HTML mini-site to Moodle – Learning and Teaching Hub

LaTeX PDF best practice

The focus of this article is on producing accessible outputs from a LaTeX source. It is still necessary to provide an HTML web-version (in addition to any PDF output) as this is an accessible and flexible output that students can widely use.

However, it is possible to improve the accessibility of LaTeX produced PDFs by following the LaTeX tagging project guidance. You may also find the University of York’s LaTeX template (Overleaf) a useful starting point.