Accelerating Accessibility: AI-Powered PowerPoint Remediation for Career and Technical Education

Background

iCEV, a leader in Career and Technical Education (CTE) for over 40 years, provides educators and students with a comprehensive online platform offering curriculum across agricultural science, health science, business, law enforcement, and more. With multimedia lessons, customizable courses, and industry-backed certifications, iCEV equips students with the skills they need for workforce success. To meet accessibility requirements and ensure content inclusivity, iCEV sought a faster, more reliable way to remediate thousands of PowerPoint files to meet standards such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Challenge

iCEV’s vast library of educational PowerPoints contained accessibility gaps that were tedious and error-prone to fix manually. Reviewing and editing thousands of slides to add missing alt text, adjust table formatting, and meet other accessibility requirements would have required significant manual labor. While they had a clear list of required changes, identifying the best mix of AI and traditional coding approaches was crucial. Without in-house expertise to design AI applications, they turned to IntelliTect for a cost-effective, scalable solution.

Solution

IntelliTect collaborated with iCEV’s content team to design and build a C# console application that combined deterministic code and Azure OpenAI services to automate accessibility remediation.

Key solution components included:

1. Azure-Aligned Development: Using C#/.NET for easy adoption by iCEV’s technical team and maintaining alignment with their Azure infrastructure.
2. AI-Assisted Alt Text Generation: Leveraging Azure OpenAI to generate descriptive, accurate alt text for images.
3. Automated Accessibility Checks: Detecting and correcting common issues like missing table headers or improper formatting.
4. Human-in-the-Loop Review: Flagging ambiguous cases for human validation, optimizing cost and accuracy.

IntelliTect’s AI solution transformed how we approach accessibility. Automating the bulk of the work means we can deliver inclusive content faster, with confidence in its quality.

— Steven Lubowicz, Chief Technology Officer, iCEV

Outcome

The resulting tool automates approximately 90% of accessibility remediation work, reducing the need for manual review and freeing iCEV’s content team to focus on high-value tasks. The application ensures compliance with ADA guidelines across thousands of existing files and can be reused for future content, eliminating the recurring expense of manual remediation. By delivering a targeted, budget-friendly AI solution, IntelliTect helped iCEV scale its accessibility efforts and continue delivering high-quality, inclusive educational content.