Illustrative Example

Note: This is a hypothetical scenario illustrating how a large STEM-focused university might approach accessibility compliance. Numbers and outcomes are projected estimates, not actual results.

How a Large University Could Achieve STEM Compliance Efficiently

A 25,000-student scenario: How bulk processing and LaTeX support could make STEM accessibility achievable.

25,000

Students

200

STEM courses

4 months

To full compliance

The Challenge: April 2026 Deadline

State University's STEM departments received notice in November 2025 that all course materials must be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant by April 2026. Initial assessment revealed massive scope:

Content Inventory

2,500 PDF lecture notes (mostly scanned)
3,200 PowerPoint presentations
10,000+ LaTeX equations (math, physics, engineering)
800 video lectures (auto-captions only)
1,500 homework assignments

Manual Estimate

12,000+ hours of work
$900K cost (at $75/hr)
18 months with 3 FTE staff
Misses deadline by 14 months

"We were told the deadline was 'non-negotiable.' Manual remediation would take until mid-2027. We needed automation."

— Director of Accessibility Services

Why They Chose Aelira

Only tool with LaTeX/MathML - YuJa and Ally don't support math equations
CLI bulk processing - IT could script entire workflows
AI-generated fixes - Not just scanning

Affordable pricing - $999/mo vs $50K/year enterprise
Privacy-first - Self-hosted AI (no vendor lock-in)
Terminal-native - Integrates with existing IT workflows

Implementation: 4-Month Sprint

Month 1: Setup + Pilot

November 2025

Week 1-2: Infrastructure

Installed Aelira CLI on IT department servers
Created bash scripts for bulk processing workflows
Set up automated directory scanning (cron jobs)
Trained 3 IT staff on CLI commands

Week 3-4: Pilot (5 courses)

Processed 250 files (PDFs, PPT, LaTeX)
95% compliance score (automated + 10% manual review)
Faculty feedback: "Didn't notice any changes to workflow"
Go-ahead for full rollout

Month 2: Bulk Processing

December 2025

# Automated batch processing script
$ aelira batch-process /courses/stem \
  --types pdf,pptx,tex \
  --parallel 10 \
  --output /accessible-courses

Processed

1,200 PDFs (OCR + structure)
1,500 PowerPoints (contrast + alt text)
4,500 LaTeX equations MathML
50 courses (25% of total)

Time Savings

Automated: 120 hours
Manual review: 300 hours
Total: 420 hours (vs 6,000 manual)
93% time saved

Month 3: Scaling Up

January 2026

Parallel Processing (5 IT staff)

Each staff member processed 20 courses/week
Total: 100 courses (50% of remaining workload)
Automated: 250 hours, Manual review: 600 hours

Edge Cases Handled

Complex LaTeX packages (ChemFig, TikZ) - 95% success
Scanned PDFs with poor quality - 85% success (manual fallback)
Multi-language content (Spanish, Chinese) - 90% success

Month 4: Final Push + QA

February 2026

Remaining Courses

Processed final 50 courses
Priority: High-enrollment courses first
Automated: 100 hours, Review: 200 hours

Quality Assurance

Spot-checked 10% of files (random sample)
97/100 average compliance score
3% edge cases fixed manually

Results: Early Compliance + Cost Savings

100%

Compliance achieved

2 months before April 2026 deadline

90%

Time saved

1,500 hours vs 12,000 hours manual

$850K

Cost saved

vs manual remediation

Cost Breakdown: Aelira vs Manual

Manual Remediation (Projected)

Labor (3 FTE × 18 months): $900K
Tools (YuJa, axe DevTools): $60K
Training: $20K
Total: $980K
Completion: July 2027 (misses deadline by 15 months)

Aelira (Actual)

Aelira (4 months): $3,996
Labor (3 IT staff part-time): $112K
Server costs: $2K
Total: $118K
Completion: February 2026 (2 months early)

Savings: $862K (88% cost reduction)

LaTeX support and CLI-based workflows can significantly reduce the time required for STEM accessibility compliance.

Hypothetical scenario showing potential time savings for large STEM departments.

The Challenge: April 2026 Deadline

State University's STEM departments received notice in November 2025 that all course materials must be WCAG 2.1 AA compliant by April 2026. Initial assessment revealed massive scope:

Content Inventory

2,500 PDF lecture notes (mostly scanned)
3,200 PowerPoint presentations
10,000+ LaTeX equations (math, physics, engineering)
800 video lectures (auto-captions only)
1,500 homework assignments

Manual Estimate

12,000+ hours of work
$900K cost (at $75/hr)
18 months with 3 FTE staff
Misses deadline by 14 months

"We were told the deadline was 'non-negotiable.' Manual remediation would take until mid-2027. We needed automation."

— Director of Accessibility Services

Why They Chose Aelira

Only tool with LaTeX/MathML - YuJa and Ally don't support math equations
CLI bulk processing - IT could script entire workflows
AI-generated fixes - Not just scanning

Affordable pricing - $999/mo vs $50K/year enterprise
Privacy-first - Self-hosted AI (no vendor lock-in)
Terminal-native - Integrates with existing IT workflows

Implementation: 4-Month Sprint

Month 1: Setup + Pilot

November 2025

Week 1-2: Infrastructure

Installed Aelira CLI on IT department servers
Created bash scripts for bulk processing workflows
Set up automated directory scanning (cron jobs)
Trained 3 IT staff on CLI commands

Week 3-4: Pilot (5 courses)

Processed 250 files (PDFs, PPT, LaTeX)
95% compliance score (automated + 10% manual review)
Faculty feedback: "Didn't notice any changes to workflow"
Go-ahead for full rollout

Month 2: Bulk Processing

December 2025

# Automated batch processing script
$ aelira batch-process /courses/stem \
  --types pdf,pptx,tex \
  --parallel 10 \
  --output /accessible-courses

Processed

1,200 PDFs (OCR + structure)
1,500 PowerPoints (contrast + alt text)
4,500 LaTeX equations MathML
50 courses (25% of total)

Time Savings

Automated: 120 hours
Manual review: 300 hours
Total: 420 hours (vs 6,000 manual)
93% time saved

Month 3: Scaling Up

January 2026

Parallel Processing (5 IT staff)

Each staff member processed 20 courses/week
Total: 100 courses (50% of remaining workload)
Automated: 250 hours, Manual review: 600 hours

Edge Cases Handled

Complex LaTeX packages (ChemFig, TikZ) - 95% success
Scanned PDFs with poor quality - 85% success (manual fallback)
Multi-language content (Spanish, Chinese) - 90% success

Month 4: Final Push + QA

February 2026

Remaining Courses

Processed final 50 courses
Priority: High-enrollment courses first
Automated: 100 hours, Review: 200 hours

Quality Assurance

Spot-checked 10% of files (random sample)
97/100 average compliance score
3% edge cases fixed manually

Results: Early Compliance + Cost Savings

100%

Compliance achieved

2 months before April 2026 deadline

90%

Time saved

1,500 hours vs 12,000 hours manual

$850K

Cost saved

vs manual remediation

Cost Breakdown: Aelira vs Manual

Manual Remediation (Projected)

Labor (3 FTE × 18 months): $900K
Tools (YuJa, axe DevTools): $60K
Training: $20K
Total: $980K
Completion: July 2027 (misses deadline by 15 months)

Aelira (Actual)

Aelira (4 months): $3,996
Labor (3 IT staff part-time): $112K
Server costs: $2K
Total: $118K
Completion: February 2026 (2 months early)

Savings: $862K (88% cost reduction)

How a Large University Could Achieve STEM Compliance Efficiently

25,000

200

4 months

The Challenge: April 2026 Deadline

Content Inventory

Manual Estimate

Why They Chose Aelira

Implementation: 4-Month Sprint

Month 1: Setup + Pilot

Month 2: Bulk Processing

Month 3: Scaling Up

Month 4: Final Push + QA

Results: Early Compliance + Cost Savings

Cost Breakdown: Aelira vs Manual

Manual Remediation (Projected)

Aelira (Actual)

Explore STEM Accessibility Solutions

How a Large University Could Achieve STEM Compliance Efficiently

25,000

200

4 months

The Challenge: April 2026 Deadline

Content Inventory

Manual Estimate

Why They Chose Aelira

Implementation: 4-Month Sprint

Month 1: Setup + Pilot

Month 2: Bulk Processing

Month 3: Scaling Up

Month 4: Final Push + QA

Results: Early Compliance + Cost Savings

Cost Breakdown: Aelira vs Manual

Manual Remediation (Projected)

Aelira (Actual)

Explore STEM Accessibility Solutions