Accessibility
Turn scans and handwriting into accessible documents
A photographed page or a scanned PDF is invisible to a screen reader. Write2Notes rebuilds that content as typed, structured, accessibility-enhanced documents — Word files and tagged LaTeX+PDF — so the material can actually be read, navigated, and searched.
What the conversion produces
Structured headings and reading order
Converted documents use real heading levels and a logical structure, so screen readers can navigate by section instead of reading a flat wall of text.
Alt text for figures
Figures extracted or regenerated during conversion carry descriptive alternative text, and hand-drawn sketches can be rebuilt as clean vector-style graphics.
Real math, not pictures of math
Equations are reconstructed as LaTeX math or Word equation objects — assistive technology can work with the markup instead of an opaque image.
Tagged PDF output from LaTeX
Accessible LaTeX+PDF output uses the modern LaTeX PDF tagging pipeline (LuaLaTeX, TeX Live 2025+) to embed document structure tags and metadata in the compiled PDF.
Proper tables and document metadata
Tables are emitted as structured tables, and outputs include title and language metadata rather than untagged scanner output.
Accessible DOCX
Word outputs use styles-based headings, alt text, and table structure, so they behave well with the accessibility checkers built into Microsoft Word.
Why accessible documents are now required
In the United States, digital accessibility for public institutions is no longer optional. Under the Department of Justice's 2024 rule for ADA Title II, state and local governments — including public schools, school districts, community colleges, and public universities — must make their web content and electronic documents conform to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Entities serving populations of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027; smaller entities and special district governments must comply by April 26, 2028.
Federal agencies have long had a parallel technology-accessibility obligation under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 separately prohibits disability discrimination in programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. In practice, these requirements can cover class materials, lecture notes, syllabi, and handouts — including scanned or handwritten pages.
Converting image-based course material into structured, tagged documents is one of the largest pieces of that work, and it is exactly the step Write2Notes automates.
What you should still verify
Write2Notes produces accessibility-enhanced output. It is a major head start, not an automatic guarantee of full WCAG 2.1 AA or PDF/UA conformance — heavy math in tagged PDFs is still an evolving area of the LaTeX tagging project. Before publishing, we recommend that you:
- Run the converted file through an accessibility checker (Word's built-in checker, Adobe Acrobat, or PAC for PDFs).
- Review generated alt text for accuracy, especially on technical figures.
- Compile accessible LaTeX outputs with LuaLaTeX on TeX Live 2025 or newer (older engines will not produce tags).
- Confirm your institution's specific conformance requirements — this page is general information, not legal advice.
Try it on one of your own scans
The guest trial converts up to three files a day without an account. Upload a handwritten page and inspect the structure of what comes back.