To generate PDF/A output, the report template must be either RTF or XSL. The PDF/A standard requires all fonts to be embedded. By default, fonts in the template are substituted with the Albany font unless font mapping is configured in the xdo.cfg file, which will embed the mapped fonts in the resulting PDF. Font mapping in the xdo.cfg file is a process used to configure external fonts for use in Oracle BI Publisher. This allows you to use fonts that are not normally available on the server in your report output. If the Albany font is missing and font mapping is not configured, the Adobe Base 14 font Helvetica is used as a non-embedded font, causing the PDF to fail PDF/A compliance. Think about whether this is something that your institution needs to account for and note the caveats.

PDF/A output is not supported when using the PDFMerger utility class, the External Attachment feature, or a Digital Signature, as these may cause the PDF to no longer be PDF/A compliant. PDFMerger utility class is used for working with PDF documents. This class allows you to merge multiple PDF documents into a single PDF document.

Additionally, the PDF/A standard does not allow for encryption, and generating PDF/A format implicitly sets the property pdf-security to “False”.

Solution 2: Configure (globally) Accessible PDF for All Online Reports

To make the PDF outputs of all online reports accessible, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Reporting Tools > BI Publisher > Setup > BIP Global Properties.

Note: To change the property setting at the global level and at the report-definition level, you require the BIP Report Developer role.

1. Select PDF Output (should be the default option).
2. Set the psxp_pdf_accessible_format property to true.
3. Save.

Solution 3: Tidy up the RTF template 

Even before you set up the report definition, there are several ways to account for an accessible experience and it starts at the RTF template level. Here are a few tips to keep in mind (again, according to Oracle documentation):

Text

• Format the text using default heading styles such as heading1, heading2, and heading3.
• Avoid justifying text, as screen readers might not correctly interpret spaces between words in justified lines.

Table

• Tables must have headers. The PDF/UA standard recommends adding headers, and Adobe Acrobat reports a table without headers as an error.
• Don't use tables for layout purposes. All tables are tagged as tables, whether used for data or layout.
• Avoid using colspan or rowspan.

Image

• Add alternate text to every image.

Document

• Create bookmarks for documents expected to contain more than 21 pages. While PDF/UA doesn't require bookmarks, Acrobat reports large documents without bookmarks as errors.
• Add the document title. You can add a title in the template or set it using the pdf-document-title runtime parameter.

Header and Footer

• Use headers and footers only for pagination information.
• Don't include any information apart from page numbers in the header/footer section.

Static Content

• Avoid including tables, lists, or link elements in static content. The entire static content area will be tagged as a single paragraph.

Graphics

• Don't use the Word Shape feature of RTF in the RTF template. Some Word Shape objects marked as artifacts instead of figures can't be read by screen readers.

Font

• Map the Symbol font to a TrueType font to avoid using the Adobe core symbol font in the output.

Sources: 

• Oracle. (n.d.). Setting Up BI Publisher. Oracle Documentation. Retrieved March 19, 2025, from    https://docs.oracle.com/cd/G10810_01/pt860pbr4/eng/pt/txml/SettingUpBIPublisher-997fcc.html
• Oracle. (n.d.). BI Publisher Report Designer's Guide. Oracle Documentation. Retrieved March 19, 2025, from https://docs.oracle.com/middleware/bi12214/bip/BIPRD/GUID-2447AD55-840D-430A-BDAD-09E21206A3B3.htm#BIPRD-GUID-2447AD55-840D-430A-BDAD-09E21206A3B3