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• iTagPDF: Towards Finally Automating PDF Accessibility

  Peya Mowar, Aaron Steinfeld, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  This CHI 2026 paper from Mowar, Steinfeld, and Bigham (Carnegie Mellon) presents iTagPDF, an automated system for tagging academic research PDFs so they are accessible to screen reader users. The authors argue that PDF accessibility has remained a persistent problem for over a…

  PDF accessibility · tagged PDF · PDF remediation · automated accessibility · document layout analysis

• Lost in Instructions: Study of Blind Users' Experiences with DIY Manuals and AI-Rewritten Instructions for Assembly, Operation, and Troubleshooting of Tangible Products

  Monalika Padma Reddy, Aruna Balasubramanian, Jiawei Zhou, Xiaojun Bi, IV Ramakrishnan, Vikas Ashok · 2026 · Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '26)

  Blind users increasingly reach for AI tools like Be My AI (Be My Eyes' GPT-4-powered assistant) and ChatGPT to interpret the printed and PDF product manuals that accompany consumer goods - flat-pack furniture, alarm clocks, timers, ring lights, smart thermostats. Prior…

  blind and low vision · generative AI · large language model · assistive technology · document accessibility

• Real-Time Accessibility Dashboards for Higher Education

  Beatriz Patatas, Carlos Duarte, Leticia Seixas Pereira · 2026 · Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '26)

  Patatas, Duarte, and Seixas Pereira (University of Lisbon and University of Porto) present an open-source Moodle plugin that integrates real-time PDF accessibility evaluation into the content-upload workflow and aggregates results into an institutional dashboard. The system has…

  higher education accessibility · learning management system · Moodle · PDF accessibility · accessibility monitoring

• Benchmarking PDF Accessibility Evaluation: A Dataset and Framework for Assessing Automated and LLM-Based Approaches for Accessibility Testing

  Anukriti Kumar, Tanushree Padath, Lucy Lu Wang · 2025 · ASSETS 2025: 27th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper addresses a critical gap in PDF accessibility evaluation by introducing the first expert-validated benchmark dataset and standardized evaluation framework for assessing how well different tools and approaches can evaluate PDF accessibility. Despite PDFs being the…

  PDF accessibility · automated testing · large language models · WCAG · PDF/UA

• Accessible workplace, inaccessible workflows: mandatory documents, challenges and workarounds in accessible onboarding

  Scott Hollier, Justin Brown, Ruchi Permvattana · 2025 · Proceedings of the 22nd International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This short paper presents a lived-experience case study from the Centre For Accessibility Australia (CFAA), a not-for-profit accessibility auditing organization where 9 of 12 staff have lived experience of disability, including the legally blind director who uses screen readers.…

  PDF accessibility · workplace accessibility · government forms · screen readers · document accessibility

• FormA11y — Research and Development of a Tool for Remediating PDF Forms for Accessibility

  Sparsh Paliwal, Joshua Hoeflich, J. Bern Jordan, Rajiv Jain, Vlad I. Morariu, Alexa Siu, Jonathan Lazar · 2025 · ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, Vol. 32, No. 1

  Paliwal and colleagues — a team spanning the University of Maryland's Maryland Initiative for Digital Accessibility (MIDA), Northwestern, and Adobe Research — tackle a problem that has been largely overlooked in PDF accessibility research: the remediation of interactive *PDF…

  PDF accessibility · PDF forms · PDF/UA · document accessibility · remediation tools

• Uncovering the New Accessibility Crisis in Scholarly PDFs: Publishing Model and Platform Changes Contribute to Declining Scholarly Document Accessibility in the Last Decade

  Anukriti Kumar, Lucy Lu Wang · 2024 · ASSETS '24: Proceedings of the 26th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

  This paper presents a large-scale analysis of 20,000 scholarly PDFs published between 2014 and 2023 to characterise the scope and trajectory of document accessibility in academic publishing. Most scholarly works are distributed as PDFs, a format that can present severe…

  PDF accessibility · scholarly publishing · document accessibility · screen readers · tagged PDF

• A11yPDF: Bridging the Gap to Inclusive PDFs

  Wajdi Aljedaani, Sandeep Kumar Rudhravaram, Akhila Chintham, Abdulrahman Habib, Marcelo M. Eler · 2024 · Proceedings of the 21st International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This technical note introduces A11yPDF, a free web-based tool for evaluating the accessibility of PDF documents against WCAG 2.2 guidelines. The tool addresses key limitations of existing PDF accessibility checkers such as PDFA Inspector, PAVE, ABBYY FineReader, Common Look, and…

  PDF accessibility · automated testing · accessibility evaluation · document accessibility · WCAG

• Mathematical Content Browsing for Print-disabled Readers Based on Virtual-world Exploration and Audio-visual Sensory Substitution

  Rynhardt Kruger, Febe De Wet, Thomas Niesler · 2023 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This research addresses a critical accessibility gap: mathematical equations in PDF documents are largely inaccessible to blind and visually impaired readers. While standards like MathML exist for encoding accessible mathematics, most scientific and technical papers are…

  mathematical accessibility · sensory substitution · PDF accessibility · blind users · sonification

• Math-to-Speech Effectiveness and Appreciation for People with Developmental Learning Disorders

  Chiara Magosso, Dragan Ahmetovic, Tiziana Armano, Cristian Bernareggi, Sandro Coriasco, Adriano Sofia, Luisa Testa, Anna Capietto · 2022 · Proceedings of the 19th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2022)

  This short paper presents a user study with 19 Italian university students who have Developmental Learning Disorders (DLD), examining whether text-to-speech (TTS) access to mathematical formulae improves their ability to memorize math syntax and their subjective experience…

  developmental learning disorders · text-to-speech · mathematics accessibility · dyscalculia · dyslexia

• Accessible PDFs: Applying Artificial Intelligence for Automated Remediation of STEM PDFs

  Felix M. Schmitt-Koopmann, Elaine M. Huang, Alireza Darvishy · 2022 · Proceedings of the 24th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2022)

  This Ph.D. research paper presents a plan to leverage artificial intelligence to automate the remediation of PDF documents from STEM fields, addressing one of the most significant barriers to information access for people with visual impairments. The Portable Document Format…

  PDF accessibility · document remediation · artificial intelligence · STEM accessibility · mathematical formulae

• Author Reflections on Creating Accessible Academic Papers

  Rachel Menzies, Garreth W. Tigwell, Michael Crabb · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This mixed-methods study investigates why academic papers remain inaccessible despite available guidance from SIGACCESS and others. The researchers analyzed 3,866 content elements (tables, charts, images) from 330 ASSETS conference papers spanning 2011-2020, then conducted…

  document accessibility · PDF accessibility · academic publishing · alt text · data visualization

• Development and Evaluation of a Tool for Assisting Content Creators in Making PDF Files More Accessible

  Debashish Pradhan, Tripti Rajput, Aravind Jembu Rajkumar, Jonathan Lazar, Rajiv Jain, Vlad I. Morariu, Varun Manjunatha · 2022 · ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing

  This paper presents the development and evaluation of "Ally," a web-based tool designed to help content creators remediate PDF documents for accessibility. While trillions of PDF documents exist online, only a small fraction include the metadata necessary for assistive…

  PDF accessibility · document remediation · content tagging · reading order · accessible tables

• A Case for Making Web Accessibility Guidelines Accessible: Older Adult Content Creators and Web Accessibility Planning

  Aqueasha Martin-Hammond, Ulka Patil, Barsa Tandukar · 2021 · Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '21)

  This short paper presents an experience report on partnering with older adult content creators at an independent living community to support web accessibility planning for their internal resident website. The website served as a civic participation tool where resident committees…

  web accessibility · older adults · content creators · WCAG · participatory research

• PDF Readability Enhancement on Mobile Devices

  Zachary Shelton, Chen-Hsiang Yu · 2020 · Proceedings of the 17th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents PDFroggy, an Android application that applies content transformation techniques to PDF documents on mobile devices to enhance readability. The research addresses a specific gap: while previous work has demonstrated that content transformation methods like…

  PDF accessibility · readability · mobile accessibility · content transformation · document accessibility

• Ontology-Driven Transformations for PDF Form Accessibility

  Utku Uckun, Ali Selman Aydin, Vikas Ashok, IV Ramakrishnan · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This demonstration paper presents TransPAc (Transformations for PDF Form Accessibility), an assistive technology that transforms PDF forms into accessible HTML pages so blind screen-reader users can fill them out. PDF forms present multiple accessibility barriers: many are…

  screen readers · document accessibility · PDF accessibility · blindness and low vision · web accessibility

• Automated Generation of Accessible PDF

  Shaban Zulfiqar, Safa Arooj, Umar Hayat, Suleman Shahid, Asim Karim · 2020 · Proceedings of the 22nd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS 2020)

  This demonstration paper presents AGAP (Automated Generation of Accessible PDF), an open-source tool that automates the generation of accessible PDFs from LaTeX source files while making the authoring process itself accessible to people with vision impairments. LaTeX is the…

  PDF accessibility · document accessibility · screen readers · STEM accessibility · automated testing

• Arabic web accessibility guidelines: Understanding and use by web developers in Kuwait

  Muhammad Saleem · 2018 · Proceedings of the 15th International Web for All Conference (W4A 2018)

  This extended abstract describes a doctoral research project aimed at developing and implementing Arabic-language web accessibility resources for developers, web content managers, and designers in Kuwait and the broader Middle East. The paper highlights a significant gap: while…

  web accessibility · Arabic · Kuwait · Middle East · WCAG

• ChattyBooks and ChattyBook Service

  Masakazu Suzuki, Katsuhito Yamaguchi · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This demonstration paper presents ChattyBooks, a Windows application that converts STEM content in DAISY/accessible EPUB3 format into audio-embedded HTML5 with JavaScript, enabling playback in any web browser on any platform without requiring specialized DAISY/EPUB3 players. The…

  STEM accessibility · DAISY · EPUB · MathML · mathematics accessibility

• Subjective Evaluation of Website Accessibility and Usability: A Survey for People with Sensory Disabilities

  Tahani Alahmadi, Steve Drew · 2017 · Proceedings of the 14th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper presents a novel subjective evaluation model for assessing web accessibility and usability from the perspective of students with sensory disabilities, applied to Australian university websites. The model integrates accessibility criteria from WCAG 2.0 and Section 508…

  accessibility evaluation · usability · university websites · education accessibility · sensory disabilities

• An Uninteresting Tour Through Why Our Research Papers Aren't Accessible

  Jeffrey P. Bigham, Erin L. Brady, Cole Gleason, Anhong Guo, David A. Shamma · 2016 · Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA 2016)

  This paper provides a candid examination of why academic research papers, delivered almost exclusively as PDFs, remain largely inaccessible to people with disabilities. The authors — who have spent years actively trying to improve the situation — trace the problem from PDF's…

  PDF accessibility · document accessibility · academic publishing · screen readers · alternative text

• Creating accessible PDFs for conference proceedings

  Erin Brady, Yu Zhong, Jeffrey P. Bigham · 2015 · Proceedings of the 12th International Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper investigates the accessibility of PDF research papers published at major ACM conferences related to accessibility and human-computer interaction. The authors conducted a two-part analysis: first, an automated accessibility check of 1,811 papers from four years of CHI,…

  PDF accessibility · document accessibility · tagged PDF · PDF/UA · screen readers

• 'The new accessibility panic': Remaining challenges to the achievement of Australia's National Transition Strategy

  Denise Wood, Scott Hollier · 2014 · Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper examines the Australian Government's progress toward its 2010 National Transition Strategy (NTS), which mandated that all federal, state, and territory websites achieve WCAG 2.0 Level AA conformance by the end of 2014. Drawing on content analysis of government blog…

  web accessibility · government accessibility · accessibility policy · WCAG compliance · accessibility training

• Global Considerations in Creating an Organizational Web Accessibility Policy

  David Sloan, Sarah Horton · 2014 · Proceedings of the 11th Web for All Conference (W4A)

  This paper from The Paciello Group examines the legislative and policy landscape for web accessibility across five countries — Australia, Brazil, China, India, and South Africa — to help multinational organisations develop global accessibility policies. The authors review…

  accessibility policy · accessibility law · global accessibility · WCAG compliance · organizational accessibility

• Accessibility Approach to Adopting Web Technologies

  Neil King, Damien McCormack · 2011 · Proceedings of the International Cross-Disciplinary Conference on Web Accessibility (W4A)

  This paper presents findings from a comprehensive Australian Government-commissioned study by Vision Australia into the accessibility of the PDF format for people with disabilities. The three-phase research combined user consultation (focus groups with blind and low vision…

  PDF accessibility · assistive technology · blind and low vision · screen readers · document accessibility