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AI-driven accessibility

Converting 800+ Guides To WCAG, With AI

AI Automation · Python Scripting · Process Scalability

An AI-and-Python pipeline that converted 800+ inaccessible PDF instruction guides into WCAG-compliant Word documents, saving my design team months of manual work.

  • AI
  • Accessibility
A python coiled around a large blue letter W — the Python-and-AI conversion pipeline.AI

The Problem

Florida regulations require all university online resources to meet WCAG 2.2 by 2026. Our roughly 1,000 instruction guides were PDFs — not accessible.

Design Story

A needs analysis moved us from PDF to a custom-styled Word format. Without automation, eight designers would have spent countless hours reworking guides one at a time.

Complexity

The team's time was limited and in high demand. A manual transition simply wasn't feasible at the required scale and timeline.

The conversion tracker spreadsheet listing guides with status columns.
The tracker that kept 800+ guides moving through conversion.
Think in systems: automate the repeatable, encode standards into rules, and keep humans in the loop for judgment. Use AI to collapse drudgery, enforce consistency at scale, and focus the team's time on higher-impact work and quality control.

The Designed Solution

An automated pipeline: batch-convert PDFs to HTML, send the HTML to a GPT model prompted to apply our DOCX styles and WCAG rules, then convert the styled HTML back into a review-ready Word document — archiving the original along the way.

Pipeline diagram: PDF guides flow through Word and HTML into an AI model and out as accessible Word documents.
How the pipeline moves a legacy guide to WCAG-compliant Word.

Design Decisions

  • Used AI to write Python tailored for large-scale conversion and style application aligned to WCAG 2.2.
  • Implemented batch processing to standardize styles and minimize designer touch-time.
  • Retained hands-on review so designers verify accuracy and finalize for publishing.

The Result

A scalable, reliable pipeline that converts formats while preserving content integrity.

The original asset transfer request guide: a dense, inaccessible PDF layout.
Before — legacy PDF guide.
The converted asset transfer request guide: clean heading structure and accessible styles in Word.
After — WCAG 2.2 AA Word guide from the pipeline.

Impact

Cut manual effort dramatically — about 40+ hours saved per designer — and put the team ahead of the 2026 deadline.

Outcome

800+ guides converted to WCAG-compliant Word, a reusable framework for future migrations, and the foundation that led to the Document Generator.

Walk Through The Pipeline

Captivate walkthrough · self-paced demoOpen full screen ↗