Language assignments can be made in a PDF document at three different levels:
- Document level
- Structure level (tag level)
- Content level (Content layer)
Note: If different language assignments have been made, the lowest level always “wins”. For example, if you have defined “de-DE” as the basic language for the document and “en-GB” as the language for a paragraph element (P tag), then British English applies to this paragraph.

Checking language assignments with axesPDF
To do this, display the Settings task pane (for the base language) or the Properties task pane (for the tag-level or content-level language setting).
- Document base language
- Structure element level
Click the Logical Structure button and then click a structure element in the Structure Elements tab.
- Content level
In the Logical Structure Tree task pane, click a content item.
Check language assignments with PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker)
- Document Basic Language
- Structure Element Level
Click the Logical Structure button and then click a structure element in the Structure Elements tab (in the Page View tab you can see where you are in the document).
- Content level
Click the Logical Structure button and then click a structure element in the Structure Elements tab (in the Page View tab you can see where you are in the document).