The right tool depends on what is wrong with the file. Microsoft 365 drafts alt text for images in Word and PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat auto-tags PDFs, Kami's free plan reads scanned pages, Diffit and Read&Write help students get at the words, and Google Docs takes alt text you write yourself. None of them can certify a file as accessible, so a teacher still reviews the result.
The timing matters. In April 2026 the Justice Department pushed back the ADA Title II web-rule deadlines by a year (CAST). Governments serving 50,000 or more people must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA by April 26, 2027, and smaller governments and special districts by April 26, 2028 (ADA.gov). WCAG 2.1 is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the standard that asks, among much else, for a text alternative for every image (W3C). ADA.gov names public schools among the covered governments. This post is about the files a teacher actually posts: handouts, slide decks and PDFs.
How do the six tools compare for accessible classroom documents?
Prices and terms below were checked on October 24, 2026 against the vendor pages linked in each section. Where a page gave no figure, the cell says so.
| Tool | The job it does | Price (checked October 24, 2026) | Where the data goes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 | Drafts alt text for images in Word and PowerPoint | Needs a Microsoft 365 subscription, not a Copilot license | On Copilot+ PCs, on the device; on other devices, the image goes to a Microsoft cloud model | Handouts and slides written in Microsoft 365 |
| Google Gemini with Google Docs | Alt text field in Docs, Slides and Gmail; Gemini can draft a description if you set it up | Alt text is part of Workspace for Education; Gemini terms for your domain unverified | Unverified for your domain; ask your administrator | Schools that live in Google |
| Adobe Acrobat | Auto-tags PDFs: headings, lists, tables, reading order | No public price checked (unverified) | Adobe says its cloud service does not save your PDF | PDFs you did not make and cannot re-export |
| Kami | Free OCR turns scans into readable PDFs; text to speech on paid plans | Free OCR; Teacher Plan $99 per school year | Directory lists United States hosting | Scanned worksheets and textbook pages |
| Diffit | Rewrites a text for a different reading level and exports it | Free Basic plan; school price by enrollment, quote only | Vendor says it collects no student data | Students who cannot get through the grade-level text |
| Read&Write | Reads text aloud with highlighting | Free premium for teachers for one year; school quotes only | Unverified; see Texthelp's privacy policy | Students who need documents read to them |
What does the April 2027 deadline actually cover?
ADA.gov says Word, PowerPoint, PDF and spreadsheet files posted before the compliance date usually do not have to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, "except in some situations." The exception does not cover files posted after the date, files edited later, or files people use to apply for or access services, and a government must still provide an accessible version on request (ADA.gov).
The ADA.gov page does not say how the rule applies to a teacher's own posts. CAST's guidance reads the rule as reaching teacher-created content (CAST). Our view is that a district's ADA coordinator is the right person to ask which of your files count. Private schools are outside what this post checked (unverified).
How do I choose the right tool for a document?
Four questions, in this order, lead to the tool.
- Does the file contain images, charts or diagrams? Then every one needs alt text, a short written description for screen readers. Start with Microsoft 365 or Google Docs, and read the Microsoft section below before trusting a draft.
- Is the file a scan or a photo of a page? Then it needs OCR (optical character recognition, software that turns a picture of text into real text) before anything else works. Kami's free plan does this.
- Is it a PDF you did not make? Then run Acrobat's auto-tagging, and treat what it produces as a draft.
- Can the text itself be too dense for some readers? Then the file may pass a checker and still fail a student. Diffit changes the reading level; Read&Write reads it aloud.
The best fix for a file you made yourself is to repair the source document and export again, rather than patching the PDF afterward. That is an editorial judgment, not a vendor claim.
What does research say about AI-written alt text?
A preprint from Rochester Institute of Technology researchers, dated February 10, 2026 on the page we read (it names no journal), tested alt text for research figures. Twelve university disability-services staff wrote alt text with and without ChatGPT-4o, and 11 human-computer-interaction experts rated the results. The experts scored AI-assisted alt text higher on accuracy, completeness, clarity and more, and the completeness and clarity gaps were statistically significant. The same study found AI-assisted text sometimes held factual errors or left details out, and staff with less subject knowledge tended to accept the AI output without checking it (Raees et al., arXiv). The study used one model, one subject area and small samples, and no blind or low-vision readers took part.
Read that as a warning about review, not about the tool. The risk is the teacher who accepts the first draft.
Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365: best for alt text in Word and PowerPoint
Microsoft 365 is the best fit for drafting alt text in a handout or slide deck because the feature sits inside the apps teachers already use and does not need a Copilot license (Microsoft). On Copilot+ PCs the description appears when you insert an image. On other devices you request it from the Alt Text pane or the Accessibility Assistant. Microsoft strongly encourages you to review and revise what it generates, and labels each description with a disclaimer that it may be inaccurate. The directory rates Microsoft Copilot 4.67 from 12 reviews.
Watch out for: Microsoft says results are weaker for blurred, abstract, low-contrast or visually complex images, and the on-device version supports English only for now. Choose something else for a chart: give the reader the data in an accessible table instead. Word's own Accessibility Checker flags a picture with no alt text as an error, but a university IT guide notes that you must still judge by hand whether the text describes the image's meaning (Bowdoin College).
Pricing: A Microsoft 365 subscription is required; a Copilot license is not (Microsoft, checked October 24, 2026).
Safety: The directory does not list a minimum age for this product, and this use is teacher-side, so no student account is involved. On devices that are not Copilot+ PCs, Microsoft says the image is sent to a cloud model, so leave out images that show students or carry names. Whether your district has signed a data agreement with Microsoft is a question for your district.
Google Gemini and Google Docs: best for schools that live in Google
Google Docs is the best fit for teachers who write handouts in Google Docs, because alt text, screen-reader support and accessible fonts such as Andika, Lexend and Atkinson Hyperlegible sit inside the app (Google for Education). That page lists alt text for Docs, Slides and Gmail, and it does not present Gemini as a tool for making documents accessible. A Texas A&M engineering team did build a Gemini Gem, a saved custom assistant, that returns draft alt text and a long description for one complex image at a time; the tutorial, published November 11, 2025, insists that a human must review anything AI-generated (Texas A&M eSAIL). The directory rates Google Gemini 4.59 from 41 reviews.
Watch out for: Drafting alt text with Gemini is a workaround you build, not a documented Google feature on the page we read. The Texas A&M guidance says to keep alt text under 120 characters, avoid starting with "image of," and give charts a data table.
Pricing: Alt text in Docs is part of Workspace for Education; Gemini plan terms for your domain are unverified. The directory lists it as free with Google Workspace for Education.
Safety: The directory lists the minimum age as unknown, and whether Gemini in your Workspace domain uses prompts for training is unverified here. Ask your administrator, and upload only images with no student information.
Adobe Acrobat: best for PDFs you did not make
Acrobat's cloud auto-tagging is the best fit for a PDF you received or inherited and cannot re-export, because it analyzes the layout to find scanned text, heading levels, tables without borders, lists and reading order in multicolumn pages (Adobe). The path is Acrobat, All tools, Prepare for accessibility, Autotag document. Acrobat is not in the directory, so there is no rating to quote.
Watch out for: Adobe's page says the feature applies only to eligible documents, that you must switch it on, and it gives no guidance on checking the result. It does not say the output needs review, so treat it as a draft anyway.
Pricing: The page names no plan and no price; no public price was checked (unverified).
Safety: Adobe says the cloud service does not save your PDF. That is Adobe's statement, not a finding. A PDF that holds student records is not one to upload without your district's approval.
Kami: best for scanned worksheets and textbook pages
Kami is the best fit for a scanned worksheet because its free plan includes OCR, which converts scanned files into readable PDFs (Kami free plan, page last modified August 3, 2026). The directory rates Kami 5.00, but from only 2 reviews, so treat that as thin.
Watch out for: Kami's page does not say its OCR adds headings, tags or reading order, so a file that has been through Kami still needs a structure check in Acrobat or the source document. Text to speech is on paid plans only.
Pricing: The Teacher Plan costs $99 per school year for one teacher and up to 150 students, and includes text to speech, OCR and voice annotation (Kami help, checked October 24, 2026; no date on the page).
Safety: The directory lists United States hosting and no minimum age. Assigning and collecting student work happens on paid plans, so a school or district data agreement is a decision to make before students sign in.
Diffit: best for students who cannot get through the grade-level text
Diffit is the best fit when a document is accessible in structure but too dense for some readers, because it turns a text, topic or existing content into materials at a different level and exports them to Google, Microsoft 365 or Classroom (Diffit). The directory rates Diffit 4.20 from 5 reviews.
Watch out for: Diffit's page says it meets "accessibility" standards and gives no detail, so ask for a VPAT (explained below). A rewrite changes the words, so check that the vocabulary the lesson depends on survived.
Pricing: The Basic plan is free, and content made in the last 90 days stays accessible. Schools pay an annual subscription priced by enrollment. Individual teacher prices are not on the pages checked (unverified) (Diffit plans, checked October 24, 2026).
Safety: Diffit states "Zero student data collected," with no student logins and no student AI, and claims data privacy agreement compliance. Those are Diffit's claims. Ask your district whether an agreement is in place before any student-related content goes in.
Read&Write: best for students who need documents read aloud
Read&Write is the best fit for students who need a document read aloud with highlighting, because the directory describes text to speech with dual-color highlighting, word prediction, vocabulary support and dyslexia-friendly fonts. The directory rates Read&Write 4.50 from 2 reviews. Texthelp has since become Everway.
Watch out for: The free offer is for teachers only. Students need seats that a school or district buys. For more on reading support, see our guide to AI tools for students with dyslexia.
Pricing: Teachers can register for a free one-year premium subscription (Texthelp, no date shown). An Australian pricing page lists an individual license at $350 AUD a year plus GST and school licenses by quote only (Everway). No US price is published on the pages checked (unverified).
Safety: The teacher registration page tells teachers not to enter student information. What a district seat shares with Texthelp is unverified; start from its privacy policy.
What do the directory records say about accessibility?
The directory's accessibility field is self-reported. Of its 161 records checked on October 24, 2026, one lists both WCAG 2.1 compliance and published VPAT reports: Lightspeed Systems (listing), a student-safety product rather than a document tool. For Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, Kami, Diffit and Read&Write the field is blank.
A blank is not a no. It means nobody has filled it in. A VPAT, a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, is the vendor's own report of how its product measures against accessibility standards, and asking for one is the practical way to find out. Browse the special education and accessibility category for tools that have filled it in.
What about ChatGPT, Claude, MagicSchool, Brisk, Gemini Notebook, Khanmigo and Quizlet?
ChatGPT is the model the RIT study used, and it can draft descriptions from an image you paste, with the same review rule and the same warning about student images. Claude can describe images too; this post did not check either vendor's terms for it. MagicSchool and Brisk both export to Google Docs and Slides, but whether either writes alt text is unverified. Gemini Notebook is a research tool, not a document fixer. Khanmigo and Quizlet are student-learning products; skip them for this job.
What does a Grade 5 science handout look like from start to finish?
This is a hypothetical plan, not a classroom result. A teacher has a Word handout on the water cycle: a title, three paragraphs, one diagram and one table of vocabulary.
- Run Word's Accessibility Checker first and fix the errors it lists.
- Insert the diagram. Request alt text, then rewrite it: the water cycle has four stages, so the short description names them and a nearby sentence or table gives the detail the picture carries.
- Mark the vocabulary table's header row so a screen reader can read the columns.
- Export the PDF, then run Acrobat's auto-tagging and spot-check headings and reading order by listening with a screen reader.
- For two students who read below grade level, make a Diffit version and keep the vocabulary list unchanged.
- Offer Read&Write to students whose plan calls for read-aloud, so they hear the same text everyone else reads.
The review steps are the ones a tool cannot do for you.
What should a school do this week?
List the five document types you post most. Pick one real file, run the four questions, and fix it end to end. Ask your ADA coordinator which of your files count, and ask each vendor you already use for a VPAT. For video, see our guide to AI tools for captioning classroom videos.
