#43137
Speaker(s)
- Binky Lush, Manager, Discovery, Access and Web Services, Penn State University Libraries
Session Details
- Length of Session: 1-hr
- Format: Lecture
- Expertise Level: Beginner
- Type of session: General Conference
Summary
How do you scale PDF accessibility under growing compliance pressure? This session presents an on-demand remediation model that shifts accessibility from backlog to service. Learn how UI tools and API integrations support repository and Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) workflows, using automation and AI while ensuring quality through human review.
Abstract
For years, institutions have approached PDF accessibility as a backlog problem—working to remediate large volumes of existing content to meet compliance requirements. Under new regulatory pressures such as ADA Title II, this model is proving increasingly unsustainable.
This session challenges that assumption and presents an alternative: on-demand PDF remediation as a scalable, user-centered service model.
At Penn State University Libraries, we have developed a PDF remediation service that combines a user-facing interface with API integrations across institutional systems, including our institutional repository and electronic theses and dissertations platform. Rather than attempting to remediate all content upfront, our approach ensures that PDFs are remediated at the point of access, delivering accessible versions when they are actually needed.
We will walk through the design and implementation of this model, including the development of a campus-wide tool for Accessibility Web Liaisons, integration into repository workflows, and the use of automated tagging and AI-assisted alt text generation. We will also discuss limitations, the critical role of human review, and how this approach aligns with both compliance requirements and real-world capacity constraints.
Attendees will leave with a practical framework for rethinking PDF accessibility—not as a one-time remediation effort, but as an ongoing, scalable service embedded within institutional infrastructure.
Keypoints
- Deliver accessibility at the moment of access with on-demand remediation.
- Treat accessibility as infrastructure.
- The “remediate everything” model is broken at scale—time to rethink the approach.
Disability Areas
All Areas
Topic Areas
Accessibility and Accommodation in the Current Political/Legal Environment, Other, Uncategorized
Speaker Bio(s)
Binky Lush
Binky Lush is the Manager of Discovery Access and Web Services for the Penn State University Libraries in University Park, PA. She leads a number of teams in the Libraries focusing on enhancing the Libraries’ web site and discovery platforms to ensure an engaging, accessible, and user-centered search and discovery experience.