Slovak Technical University of Košice

How a University Campus Uses PDFix to Automate PDF Accessibility with a Custom PDF Remediation App

1. Overview

Universities are responsible for delivering accessible digital content to support inclusive education and meet legal accessibility standards. This includes making course materials, administrative documents, and publications usable for all students, including those with disabilities.

Compliance with PDF/UA and the European Accessibility Act (EAA) requires that PDFs meet strict technical and usability criteria.

Manual remediation proved inefficient and inconsistent across departments. STU implemented a centralized PDF accessibility platform powered by PDFix to automate remediation, empower staff, and standardize compliance workflows across the university.

2. Business Challenges

STU faced the common accessibility obstacles of a large educational institution:

Needed a solution that combined automation, compliance validation, and ease of use
Thousands of documents annually generated across multiple faculties and departments
Inconsistent document structures (e.g., syllabi, scanned forms, complex layouts)
Manual tagging was labor-intensive, error-prone, and not feasible at scale
Faculty and admin staff lacked training in PDF/UA and accessibility best practices

3. Solution

STU partnered with PDFix to implement a centralized web-based remediation platform alongside PDFix Desktop Pro, creating a hybrid solution that combines automation and manual control.

The platform features an intuitive remediation pipeline designed specifically for the university environment, supporting end-to-end PDF accessibility:

Secure Sign-In & Document Upload: Users access the web-based remediation app, sign in, and upload PDFs through a centralized interface. The dashboard provides real-time tracking of document status, validation results, and remediation progress.
Accessibility Validation: Upon upload, the document is automatically checked for PDF/UA compliance using an integrated validator.
Automated Tagging with PDFix SDK: If the document fails validation, it proceeds to automated remediation. The PDFix SDK analyzes the layout and applies intelligent auto-tagging ensuring a correct reading order and semantic structure.
Revalidation: After auto-tagging, the document is rechecked for compliance to confirm that PDF/UA requirements are met.
Manual Remediation with PDFix Desktop Pro: If needed, documents requiring additional adjustments are sent to PDFix Desktop for final manual remediation and export as a compliant PDF/UA document.

4. Implementation

The rollout of the accessibility platform at STU happened in phases. First, the team assessed which types of documents were used most, where compliance risks existed, and how different departments worked. Then, the platform was launched across the entire university, with ongoing support and customization to help staff and faculty use it effectively.

5. Results

By implementing PDFix, STU transformed PDF accessibility into an efficient, campus-wide workflow:

Automated Remediation: High-volume documents – like course materials and forms – processed quickly with minimal effort
Minimal Manual Tagging: Most PDFs auto-tagged accurately, reducing the need for manual correction
Staff Empowerment: Non-technical users created accessible PDFs without relying on external services
PDF/UA Compliance: All documents validated against EU and international accessibility standards
Custom & Scalable: Solution tailored to STU’s systems, with flexibility to grow as needs evolve