Rutgers Mathematics Department
1 Instructions
Use these step-by-step instructions to create a tagged PDF from an existing LaTeX file in Overleaf. (Rutgers has an institutional license for Overleaf; an account can be set-up using the steps described on this page: https://www.overleaf.com/edu/rutgers).
- Step 1: Open or start a project in Overleaf. Click on ”Menu” in the top-left corner, scroll down to Settings and choose the following:
– Compiler: LuaLaTex
– Tex Live version: 2025
These settings are necessary because LuaLaTeX and TeX Live 2025 are the only combination currently capable of generating native, machine-readable PDF tags and embedding MathML for equations. - Step 2: In the .tex file to be compiled, paste the following code in the preamble of the document, before the \documentclass command:
% ADD THIS BLOCK AT THE VERY TOP OF YOUR .TEX FILE
\DocumentMetadata{
tagging=on,
pdfstandard=ua-2,
lang=en,
tagging-setup = {math/setup={mathml-AF,mathml-SE}}
}
\tagpdfsetup{math/alt/use} - Step 3: Add alternative descriptions for any included graphics using the following syntax:
\includegraphics[height=4cm, alt={Portrait of Shakespeare}] {william-shakespeare.jpg}
If an image is purely decorative and should be ignored by screen readers, then it should be tagged as an artifact using the following syntax:\includegraphics[height=4cm,artifact]{decor.jpg} - Step 4: Compile and download the generated PDF.
2 Tips and Best Practices
- Use proper LaTeX syntax to structure the document. Do: use the title, section/subsection commands. Don’t: use visual effects (such as bolding the text or increasing font) to indicate structural aspects.
- Check that your document is accessible using Ally in Canvas: upload your file to any Canvas site, then launch the Ally Course Accessiblity Report. Ally will score each file and suggest fixes if accessibility issues are detected.
- Use Unicode math fonts to improve the tagging of equations. After the document class declaration, load the unicode-math package using
\usepackage{unicode-math} - At the moment, tagging is not compatible with all LaTeX packages and document classes, which may cause errors. The following page has a detailed list of compatible and incompatible document classes and packages: https://latex3.github.io/tagging-project/tagging-status/.