Askem PDF Fixer vs EqualWeb PDF Tools

Askem PDF Fixer is a paid web service that checks PDF accessibility, applies automatic corrections, and validates results against PDF/UA-1 and applicable WCAG 2.1 AA criteria. Fixes cover document structure and tags, reading order, image alternative text, metadata, artifacts, and untagged content. Every document receives a validation result and a per-document record; Askem says more than 9 in 10 documents pass. A single upload accepts PDFs up to 500 pages and needs no integration, project, or procurement process. Batches can contain up to 200,000 documents. Files can be processed in any language, with the language set in PDF metadata. Scanned PDFs, complex tables or infographics with ambiguous meaning, context-dependent alternative text, and forms with conditional logic are flagged for manual handling. Documents are processed and stored on EU infrastructure and are not transferred outside the EU. OCR and API access are not available. Pricing is on request, with a 20-minute call offered for prospective customers.

EqualWeb PDF Tools combines PDF accessibility checking, automated remediation, expert manual remediation, and an accessible in-browser viewer. Its checker performs more than 80 automated checks across eight categories and returns a score from 0 to 100 with a detailed report. AI remediation can address document structure, reading order, alternative text, tables, forms, fonts, text encoding, contrast, language, and metadata. Scanned PDFs can receive OCR and remediation, up to 400 pages. Batch processing supports up to 1,000 PDFs; individual files can be as large as 400 pages and 100 MB, though larger files may be uploaded and flagged during an audit. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files can be converted to accessible PDF or HTML, and PDFs to accessible HTML. The product says it remediates and validates against WCAG 2.2, PDF/UA-1 and PDF/UA-2, Section 508, and EN 301 549. A REST API handles uploads, audits, reports, remediation, downloads, and batches, with access requested from EqualWeb. Auto AI Tag is optimized for English and Latin-script documents.