Pre-release: an early browser version is open to try
Make every page accessible.
Zacess is a free, open-source reader that turns slides, PDFs, handouts, whiteboards and web pages into notes in your own reading profile. Read, listen and learn your way.
Read. Listen. Learn. Your way.
Zacess is said like "success": za-SESS.
The app is an early version. It opens PDFs, Word files, images, web pages and text, with more arriving in each release.
What it does
One app in place of the separate reader, magnifier, recorder and study tools many students juggle today. The engine behind it is built and tested. An early browser version is open to try.
Your reading profile
Contrast, size, spacing, column width and colours set once and kept. Presets for low vision, dyslexia, reduced visual clutter and screen readers. Nothing changes without you.
Text from any page
Text is taken from the file where it exists and recognised from the image where it does not. Doubtful words, numbers and symbols are marked so you can check them.
Lectures in one place
Slides and whiteboards captured without repeats, the recording and its transcript on one timeline you can search.
Study that fits
Flashcards that space themselves out, reading goals with no streak pressure and export to Anki and Notion.
Two languages side by side
The original beside its translation, keeping your place when you switch, with right-to-left scripts laid out the right way.
Take it anywhere
Export to accessible HTML, EPUB 3 and braille-ready files. Your notes stay yours, in open formats.
How it works
Bring any page
A PDF, a photo of a handout, a projected slide, a whiteboard or a web page.
Zacess rebuilds it
It finds the text, the headings and the reading order and keeps equations and tables intact.
Read it your way
See it in your profile, listen to it, study from it or export it. The original is never changed.
Private by default
Zacess works on your device. Your files are not uploaded, there is no account to make and it keeps working offline. Any cloud feature will always be optional, clearly labelled and show you what it would send first.
Roadmap
The core that does the real work is built and tested. The browser version is next: an early build is open to try now. The apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android follow on the same core.
Free and open source
Everything that runs on your device is free, for good. The code is open under the AGPL-3.0 licence, so anyone can check how it works and nobody can take it and close it.
We are building in the open on GitHub. Share what you find hard to read, the tools you use today and what would help.
Accessibility first
WCAG 2.2 AA is our minimum everywhere, with AAA contrast in the reading view. Zacess is designed for screen readers and works fully from the keyboard. Colour is never the only signal and motion follows your settings.
Find out more
About Zacess
Why it exists, who it is for and where the name comes from.
Questions and answers
Cost, devices, languages, offline use, braille and universities.
Get in touch
Feedback, accessibility problems, security reports and enquiries.