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Honest comparison of accessibility solutions for higher education.
accessiBe fixes websites. Aelira fixes course content.
accessiBe is a website overlay widget for live web content (your university homepage, marketing sites, etc.).
Aelira is a document remediation tool for course content (PDFs, PowerPoints, LaTeX equations, videos).
You probably need both: accessiBe for your public website, Aelira for your course materials.
Best for: Making your university website accessible (homepage, marketing pages, public-facing content)
Pricing: $490-$990/year (for websites only)
Best for: Making your course content accessible (PDFs, PowerPoints, LaTeX equations, videos)
Pricing: $999/mo per department (unlimited users)
| Feature | accessiBe | Aelira |
|---|---|---|
| University Website (Homepage, Marketing Pages) Make your public-facing website accessible | Yes Perfect for this | No Not designed for websites |
| PDF Remediation (Lecture Notes, Syllabi) Add alt text, fix contrast, structure headings | No Cannot process PDFs | Yes OCR + AI remediation |
| PowerPoint Scanning (Lecture Slides) Detect contrast issues, missing alt text | No Cannot process PowerPoints | Yes Bulk PPT analysis |
| LaTeX/MathML (STEM Courses) Convert math equations to accessible formats | No No LaTeX support | Yes Full LaTeX parsing |
| Video Transcription (Lecture Videos) Clean up auto-captions, fix technical terms | No Cannot process videos | Yes AI caption cleanup |
| Bulk Processing (1,000+ Files) Scan entire departments at once | Yes CLI + directory scanning |
accessiBe installs in 5 minutes with one line of JavaScript. No complex setup, no developer time required. Perfect for marketing teams.
Visitors can adjust contrast, font size, spacing, and navigation to suit their needs. The overlay provides a personalized experience for each user.
At $490-$990/year, accessiBe is affordable for small to mid-sized websites. Much cheaper than hiring a developer to manually fix accessibility issues.
For public-facing marketing websites, accessiBe can get you to "good enough" compliance quickly. Ideal for universities that need a fast solution for their homepage.
accessiBe uses an "overlay" approach that's controversial in the accessibility community. Many accessibility advocates (including the National Federation of the Blind) say overlays don't solve the underlying problem.
Our take: accessiBe is fine for marketing websites where you need a quick solution. But for course content (which is what the April 2026 deadline is about), you need actual remediation, not an overlay.
Note: Multiple accessibility advocacy organizations have publicly raised concerns about overlay approaches. Research thoroughly before choosing any accessibility solution.
Consider using complementary tools: one for public websites, another for course materials.
Aelira remediates your actual PDFs, PowerPoints, and videos, not just overlays them. The files themselves become accessible.
Why it matters: Students download course materials. An overlay won't help if they're reading the PDF offline.
Aelira is the only solution that parses LaTeX equations and converts them to accessible MathML.
Why it matters: 95-99% of mathematicians use LaTeX. Without LaTeX support, STEM departments can't meet WCAG 2.1 compliance.
Aelira can scan 1,000+ files in minutes using the CLI or web app. Process entire department shared drives.
Why it matters: Faculty have thousands of existing files. You can't manually fix them all before April 2026.
accessiBe for your university website:
Homepage, marketing pages, department sites, public-facing content
Aelira for your course content:
PDFs, PowerPoints, LaTeX equations, lecture videos, syllabi
The April 2026 WCAG 2.1 deadline is specifically about course materials and educational content, not marketing websites.
Your university homepage being inaccessible is a problem.
Your course content being inaccessible is a legal liability.
Try Aelira free for 30 days. No credit card required.
Join 500+ universities preparing for the April 2026 WCAG 2.1 deadline.