AxisRemedy next to top ten other PDF accessibility tools
What each tool says it does, what we do, and where we are behind. Written 1 November 2026.
How to read this page. Facts about other tools come only from the pages named under Sources, and most of those are written by the vendors. Every speed or accuracy figure for another tool is that vendor’s own claim, not something we measured. Our own figures we measured ourselves. “Not shown” means the pages we read did not say.
Features side by side
✓ Yes ✗ No ~ Maybe, partly, or not shown on the pages we read
| Feature | AxisRemedy (us) | Acrobat | CommonLook | Equidox | PDFix | axes4 | Accessibility on Demand | Cloud AI tools (PREP, EqualWeb, Crawford) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runs fully offline | ✓ Yes | ✓ Desktop | ~ Plug-in yes, web version no | ~ On-premises option | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No (some on-premises) |
| File never leaves your machine | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ~ Depends | ~ On-premises only | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| macOS | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ~ Web only | ~ Web | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ~ Web | ~ Web |
| Windows | ~ App built, not yet run on real Windows | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ~ Web | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ~ Web | ~ Web |
| Linux / Docker command line | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ~ API | ~ API |
| Batch with CSV summary | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ✓ Yes | ~ Enterprise edition | ~ Not shown | ~ API | ✓ Yes |
| Report on the 137 Matterhorn conditions | ✓ Yes: 87 tested, 31 screened for a person | ~ Partial checker | ~ Validator | ~ Not shown | ~ Validator | ~ PAC | ~ Compliance score | ~ Not shown |
| Review items with page and box, before and after | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ~ Visual editor | ~ Editor | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ~ Not shown |
| Never claims “compliant” | ✓ Yes | ~ n/a | ~ Not shown | ~ Says not fully automated | ~ Not shown | ~ Says review is needed | ✗ Claims a guaranteed score | ✗ Claims percentages |
| AI auto-tagging | ✗ Not yet, working on it | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| AI picture descriptions | ✗ Not yet, working on it | ✓ Yes | ~ Not shown | ~ Not shown | ~ Not shown | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ✓ Yes |
| OCR of scanned pages | ~ Almost ready, but not live | ✓ Yes | ~ Not shown | ~ Not shown | ~ Not shown | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ✓ Yes |
| Human-verified service | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✓ Yes (Allyant) | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ~ Not shown | ~ Some |
Us against each one: where we are better, where we are behind
In one line. Better: privacy (offline), Mac and Linux, honesty and proof (a published veraPDF rate, a 137-condition report, review and revert). Behind: AI tagging, OCR, AI picture text, a cloud API, a human service, customers and certification. We are working on it.
| Tool | We are better at | We are behind at |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Pro | Batch repair with a summary file; a report on all 137 conditions; a published veraPDF pass rate; a Linux command line | Auto-tagging, OCR, AI picture text, and familiarity: most people already own Acrobat |
| CommonLook (Allyant) | A fully offline engine on Mac and Linux | A mature validator and editor, a human-verified service, government customers |
| Equidox | Offline, no file leaves your machine; a report that never claims compliance | AI detection of tables, lists and forms; templated batches; support and training |
| PDFix | A Mac app with review screens, a per-condition report and plain-words messages | Same platforms plus an SDK and API, PDF/UA-2, years of use |
| axes4 (axesPDF) | Mac and Linux, batch, an automatic first pass | A mature manual editor for reading order, and PAC built in |
| PREP (Continual Engine) | Offline, no cloud | AI accuracy claims, an API, volume, enterprise sales |
| Accessibility on Demand | Offline and private (it is cloud only); no guaranteed-score claim | Scale (600,000 pages claimed in one month), an API, FedRAMP, a government channel, OCR |
| CrawfordTech (AccessibilityNow) | Simplicity: it works on a single laptop | Enterprise integrations, thousands of pages a day, services |
| GrackleDocs | Works on any PDF, not only Google Docs output | A Google Workspace add-on, desktop OCR |
| EqualWeb | Offline, no upload, per-condition proof | Cloud batches of 1,000 PDFs, OCR, AI, bulk pricing |
What we offer that the others’ pages do not show
- Offline repair on Mac, Windows and Linux with the same engine, so your files never leave your machine.
- A published pass rate against an independent validator (veraPDF), with the failing rules listed: 76% of 150 unseen real PDFs pass PDF/UA-1 after repair.
- A report that says what it did not check. Of 137 conditions, 87 are tested, 31 are screened for a person and 19 are left to people. It never says “compliant”.
- Every change can be reviewed and reverted, with before and after.
- The desktop app works without a network.
What others offer that we do not, and we are working on it
- AI auto-tagging with a stated accuracy. Ours is rule-based, and heading levels are its weakest part.
- OCR of scanned pages (we are working on it) and AI picture descriptions (not yet).
- Services and trust: human-verified remediation, a support team, certification and FedRAMP hosting.
- A cloud API and a Google Workspace add-on.
- PDF/UA-2. One vendor lists it; we make no claim.
Not verified
Prices for Acrobat, CommonLook, axes4 and GrackleDocs were not on the pages we read. Figures for Equidox, PREP and Accessibility on Demand are the vendors’ claims. We did not confirm whether CommonLook, Equidox or PDFix offer OCR or batch. Also seen but not compared: PAC 2024 (free checker, fixes nothing), ADAPT AI and Foxit PDF Editor.
Sources
Opened 1 November 2026: Continual Engine “10 Best PDF Remediation Tools of 2026” (written by the vendor of PREP); Equidox pricing blog and buyer’s guide; Carahsoft page for Accessibility on Demand; TrustRadius page for PDFix Desktop Pro pricing; CostBench page for Foxit; our own analysis of 26 October 2026 (Adobe, Allyant, TrustRadius, Quadient and Software Advice pages).