[Athen] Rec's for PDF remediation on a giant scale

[Kevin Andrews via athen-list]

Thanks, Shawn, that comparison between PREP and DocAccess is especially
helpful. I’m genuinely curious to dig a bit deeper on DocAccess, because
the claims around “fully automated” remediation are exactly what many of us
are being asked about internally, often in the context of very large
backlogs.


A few specifics I’d love more clarity on, if you’re willing to share from
real-world use:

   -

   *MathML in practice:* When DocAccess renders math via MathML
   automatically, how reliable is that output for complex equations and
   notation? Is there still a review step to confirm semantic accuracy and
   reading order with screen readers, or is it treated as production-ready out
   of the gate?
   -

   *Alt text and data tables:* You mentioned detailed alt text and
   auto-generated data tables for charts and graphs. How are those validated
   for *meaningfulness* and correctness? In your experience, does this
   still require subject-matter review, especially for instructional or
   scientific content?
   -

   *“No staff involvement”:* When you say faculty and staff don’t have to
   do anything, does that include QA and risk sign-off? Or is there still an
   implicit accessibility review happening somewhere in the workflow before
   content is considered compliant?


Asking from a place of due diligence rather than skepticism — the
difference has big implications for cost, liability, and how we set
expectations with leadership.


Really appreciate you sharing concrete experience here.


On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 12:50 PM JORDISON_SHAWN <JORDISON_SHAWN at smc.edu>
wrote:


> Throwing in a +1 to DocAccess

>

> This tool can render math accessibly via MathML automatically. It also has

> the ability to write detailed alternate text and will even provide data

> tables for charts and graphs that do not have a data table. There's also

> the ability to request a human check. It literally makes it to where

> faculty and staff do not have to do anything to the document. It's quite

> remarkable.

>

> For the PREP tool I have always found that I still have to do some extra

> steps after the file gets out. In my opinion, it's not as automated as it

> seems, though it can handle simple files extremely well.

>

>

>    - Shawn

>

>

> —

>

> *Shawn Jordison aka The Accessibility Guy - MS, Ed.D*

> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPO0yzGQJmAa290DjrByhwQ>

> Phone: 530-238-5645 or Book a  Free 15 minutes

> <http://www.tidycal.com/shawnjordison0000>

> YouTube featuring Accessibility Tutorials

> <https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPO0yzGQJmAa290DjrByhwQ>

> <https://frontapp.com/signature>

> [image: Sent from Front]

>

> On February 6, 2026 at 9:46 AM PST athen-list at u.washington.edu wrote:

>

> CAUTION: This email originated outside SMC.

>

>

> Thanks for sharing this, Kamran — always helpful to hear what’s working in

> practice.

>

>

> I’m curious about a few specifics, especially given the very strong claims

> PREP makes around compliance and scale:

>

>    1.

>

>    *STEM complexity:* How does PREP handle documents with complex math,

>    equations, and scientific figures in practice? In particular, what still

>    requires manual human intervention versus what’s genuinely automated, and

>    how is math accessibility (e.g., MathML, reading order, context) validated?

>    2.

>

>    *Alt text and figures:* When PREP advertises “fully compliant” output,

>    how is meaningful alt text handled for charts, diagrams, and images? Is

>    that AI-generated, human-reviewed, or expected to be supplied by the

>    institution? This has been a major cost and quality driver for us.

>    3.

>

>    *Verification and risk:* What does your QA or validation process look

>    like before documents are considered compliant (PDF/UA, WCAG 2.x)? Are you

>    doing independent testing with assistive technologies, or relying primarily

>    on automated checkers?

>

> Asking because many of us are operating under significant budget

> constraints, and the difference between “accelerates first pass” and

> “reduces total human labor” really matters when making procurement

> decisions.

>

>

> Appreciate any detail you’re willing to share.

>

> On Fri, Feb 6, 2026 at 12:38 PM Kamran Rasul <krasul1 at jhu.edu> wrote:

>

>> Hi,

>>

>>

>>

>> We have been using Prep by Continual Engine

>> <https://www.continualengine.com/prep-pdf-remediation-software/>

>>

>>

>>

>> It has helped us remediate large volumes of PDFs with short turnarounds.

>>

>>

>>

>> Kamran Rasul, MEd.

>>

>> Assistive Technology/Alternate Format Specialist (SDS)

>>

>> Phone: 410-516-1167

>>

>> E-mail: krasul1 at jhu.edu

>>

>> Garland Hall, 1st Floor, Office 135-G

>>

>> 3400 N. Charles Street

>>

>> Baltimore, MD 21218

>>

>> Schedule a meeting with Kamran

>> <https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/ATC2@live.johnshopkins.edu/bookings/>

>>

>>

>>

>> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> *On

>> Behalf Of *Kevin Andrews via athen-list

>> *Sent:* Friday, February 6, 2026 12:02 PM

>> *To:* Monica Olsson <molsson at sbctc.edu>; Access Technology Higher

>> Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Rec's for PDF remediation on a giant scale

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> *      External Email - Use Caution      *

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Jumping in with some lived-reality perspective from Georgetown, since

>> we’re actively navigating this right now under pretty real austerity

>> conditions.

>>

>>

>>

>> We have an Acrobat Pro *site license*, and I want to be clear for folks

>> reading along: that solves licensing, not remediation. At scale, Acrobat

>> helps with OCR and basic tagging, but it does not eliminate the human labor

>> required for structure, reading order, tables, math, figures, or meaningful

>> alt text—especially for STEM content. That’s where time and money actually

>> go.

>>

>>

>>

>> Budget is a huge constraint for us at the moment, so the conversation

>> internally has had to shift from “how do we make everything accessible” to

>> “how do we make defensible, impact-driven decisions.” That’s meant being

>> very explicit about tradeoffs:

>>

>>    - Not all legacy PDFs are equal in risk or usage.

>>    - Automated tools are, at best, a first pass—not an end state.

>>    - Vendor remediation often scopes *out* alt text, math, and complex

>>    figures unless you pay significantly more.

>>    - Retrofitting thousands of documents is often more expensive than

>>    replacing or re-authoring the most critical ones over time.

>>

>>

>>

>> What’s been most helpful for us is framing this as *triage and lifecycle

>> management*, not a one-time cleanup project: prioritizing high-use /

>> high-risk materials, de-emphasizing low-traffic archives, and being honest

>> with stakeholders about what’s achievable under current financial

>> conditions.

>>

>>

>>

>> No silver bullets here—just hard constraints and deliberate choices.

>> Sharing in case it’s useful context for others facing the same pressures.

>>

>>

>>

>> On Thu, Feb 5, 2026 at 9:22 PM Monica Olsson via athen-list <

>> athen-list at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>>

>> Hi Amy, I plan to send you a document about Doc Access and security and

>> thought that I had stated this in a prior email. Not a lot of folks know

>> about the tool yet, in fact we (SBCTC) are they very reason a Canvas LTI

>> tool even exists for the Doc Access tool. They built it for us :) I expect

>> if our trial is successful and the tool is used at scale (really any scale)

>> they will see a ton of higher ed clients over night…but we are kind of

>> getting in at the beta stage. So, your inquiry to ATHEN may open a can of

>> worms that I'm not entirely prepared for, but I guess it puts the tool on

>> people's radar too!

>>

>>

>>

>> Get Outlook for iOS <https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> on

>> behalf of Amy Rovner via athen-list <athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Sent:* Thursday, February 5, 2026 5:46:49 PM

>> *To:* Wallace, Sagan <Sagan.Wallace at oregonstate.edu>; Access Technology

>> Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>; Susan Kelmer <

>> Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu>; Joshua Hori <jhori at ucdavis.edu>

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Rec's for PDF remediation on a giant scale

>>

>>

>>

>> *[Sent from outside SBCTC] *

>>

>>

>>

>> I'm very interested in the security of DocAccess. I hear that it can be

>> embedded in Canvas. Is that how you are using it? I'm very suspect when

>> companies using AI are too close to student data.

>>

>>

>>

>> Thank you!

>>

>> Amy

>>

>>

>>

>> *Amy Rovner, MPH RD*

>> Director eLearning Services

>> Accessible IT Coordinator

>>

>> *Shoreline Community College*

>>

>> *www.shoreline.edu <http://www.shoreline.edu/>*  |  206.546.6937

>>

>> eLearning Office: 206.546.6966

>>

>> eLearning Email: *elearning at shoreline.edu <elearning at shoreline.edu>*

>>

>> *Shoreline Support Center <https://support.shoreline.edu/>*

>>

>>

>>

>> [image: Shoreline logo with tagline, Engage. Achieve.]

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> on

>> behalf of Joshua Hori via athen-list <athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Sent:* Monday, February 2, 2026 2:56 PM

>> *To:* Wallace, Sagan <Sagan.Wallace at oregonstate.edu>; Access Technology

>> Higher Education Network <athen-list at u.washington.edu>; Susan Kelmer <

>> Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu>

>> *Subject:* Re: [Athen] Rec's for PDF remediation on a giant scale

>>

>>

>>

>> *[ CAUTION: This email originated from outside Shoreline Community

>> College. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the

>> sender and know the content is safe. ] *

>>

>>

>>

>> DocAccess has been looking very interesting. They not only use AI for alt

>> tags but also integrate with AIRA.io to provide human audio descriptions of

>> images.

>>

>>

>>

>> Best,

>>

>>

>>

>> Joshua

>>

>>

>>

>> *From: *athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> on

>> behalf of Wallace, Sagan via athen-list <athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Date: *Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 8:16 AM

>> *To: *Access Technology Higher Education Network <

>> athen-list at u.washington.edu>, Susan Kelmer <Susan.Kelmer at colorado.edu>

>> *Subject: *Re: [Athen] Rec's for PDF remediation on a giant scale

>>

>> So far everyone I've looked at will do large-scale projects, but not

>> write alt text (though they'll include it if you write it). I used Allyant

>> for outsourcing PDFs at the time.

>>

>>

>>

>> Since I'm feeling snarky....why not just dump them in an ABBYY hot folder

>> and call it a day? They're not going to make accessible STEM PDFs anyway,

>> so why waste time finding the best option? 🙃

>>

>>

>>

>> Sagan Wallace

>>

>> *they/them*

>> ------------------------------

>>

>> *From:* athen-list <athen-list-bounces at mailman22.u.washington.edu> on

>> behalf of Susan Kelmer via athen-list <athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 28, 2026 6:42 AM

>> *To:* Access Technology Higher Education Network <

>> athen-list at u.washington.edu>

>> *Subject:* [Athen] Rec's for PDF remediation on a giant scale

>>

>>

>>

>> [This email originated from outside of OSU. Use caution with links and

>> attachments.]

>>

>> I hope everyone's semester has gotten off to a bang-up start!

>>

>>

>>

>> A department on my campus has a enormous stockpile of

>> scientific/engineering-type PDFs that are publicly available, and that

>> department wants to undertake turning them all into accessible documents.

>> Yes, they really want to do this, and first they asked me if I wanted to

>> take on the project.

>>

>>

>>

>> No thanks.

>>

>>

>>

>> So I'm looking for recommendations for any large-scale PDF remediation

>> companies that could do this kind of work.   Please and thanks.

>>

>>

>>

>> *Susan Kelmer*

>>

>> Alternate Format Production Program Manager

>>

>> Disability Services

>>

>> Division of Student Life

>>

>> *T* 303 735 4836

>>

>> *www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices

>> <http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices>*

>>

>>

>>

>> _______________________________________________

>> athen-list mailing list

>> athen-list at mailman22.u.washington.edu

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>>

>>

>>

>>

>> --

>>

>> Best Regards,

>>

>> Kevin Andrews

>>

>> Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator

>>

>> University Information Services

>> Georgetown University

>>

>

>

> --

> Best Regards,

> Kevin Andrews

> Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator

> University Information Services

> Georgetown University

>

>


-- 
Best Regards,
Kevin Andrews
Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator
University Information Services
Georgetown University
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