PDF/A Conformance

This page is for the collaborative work of the ad hoc committee established at the ISO TC 171 SC2 WG5 Berlin meeting.

News:

PDF/A Competence Center - Test Suite

http://www.pdfa.org/doku.php?id=artikel:en:validating_pdfa&s=test%20suite#test_suite_for_pdf_a

Ad Hoc Group Description and Objectives: 

Issues being addressed / Committe Objectives :

1) Issue: Part 1 of the PDF/A standard was published before it was "tested" (i.e., used to develop a PDF/A-1 writer, reader, or validator).  As such, when the standard was actually used to develop a PDF/A Tool, technical issues surfaced which required technical corrigenda.     

Committee Objective: Determine if future parts of PDF/A require testing prior to final approval and publication.  Identify options and make recommendations to conduct such testing, as determined necessary.

2) Issue: There is currently no independent body to certify PDF/A-1 writers, readers, and validation tools as processing conformant PDF/A-1 files.  Without such a certification body there is no guarantee that PDF/A products adhere to the PDF/A specification.

Committee Objective: Analyze the risks associated with the issue and identify options for validating and "certifying" conformance of PDF/A software to the PDF/A Standard.

3) Issue: Software vendors, who are directly involved in the PDF/A standard, are identifying technical issues with the standard and, rather than waiting for the standards process to correct these issues in the standard, they are developing and selling PDF/A-1 writers that produce PDF/A-1 files that may not strictly adhere to the currently approved version of the standard.  These same vendors also develop and sell products that validates these technically non-conforming files as conforming to the standard. 

Committee Objective: Determine the risks and issues involved with software getting ahead of the standard and identify options for and recommendations for addressing this issue.

Proposed Next Steps: