Terms of Service

1. Purpose & Scope of Service

The PDF Accessibility Workbench (“AdaPDF”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) provides automated structural auditing, Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 triage, and ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1) tag tree reconstruction for electronic Portable Document Format (“PDF”) files. The service assists corporate, non-profit, and municipal publishing entities in identifying and remediating machine-evaluable accessibility barriers under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA Title II & Title III), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and WCAG 2.1/2.2 Level AA guidelines.

2. Disclaimer of Legal Advice & No Attorney-Client Relationship

3. No Guarantee of Litigation Immunity or Third-Party Claims

While AdaPDF is engineered to conform strictly to ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1) and automated WCAG 2.1/2.2 success criteria, AdaPDF DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT YOUR DOCUMENTS, WEBSITES, OR DIGITAL ASSETS WILL BE FREE FROM THIRD-PARTY ACCESSIBILITY CLAIMS, ADMINISTRATIVE DEMAND LETTERS, REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS (E.G., DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES), OR PRIVATE LAWSUITS.

Plaintiffs and advocacy groups may initiate claims regardless of technical compliance scores. You explicitly acknowledge that achieving a 100% automated score does not prevent third parties from filing complaints or alleging accessibility barriers.

4. Technical Limitations & Mandatory Human Audit Acknowledgment

You understand and accept the fundamental operational constraints of automated accessibility testing established by the international Matterhorn Protocol 1.1 and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C):

• Machine-Evaluable Criteria (~40%): AdaPDF automates technical syntax checks, tag tree creation, heading tags, table column/row header tags, viewer preferences, and metadata BCP-47 language declarations.
• Subjective Human-Evaluable Criteria (~60%): Subjective criteria cannot be certified solely by software algorithms. These include, but are not limited to:
  1. The contextual accuracy, educational fidelity, and relevance of alternative text descriptions for images and complex charts.
  2. Logical reading order flow through multi-column, dynamic, or specialized editorial layouts.
  3. Color contrast suitability embedded within non-text raster figures and complex vector illustrations.
  4. Semantic relationship validity in complex nested or non-standard data matrices.

5. Disclaimer of Warranties (“AS IS” & “AS AVAILABLE”)

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE ADAPDF SERVICE, REMEDIATION ENGINES, SOFTWARE, AUDIT REPORTS, API ENDPOINTS, AND ALL CONTENT AND REMEDIATED DOCUMENTS ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE.

ADAPDF AND ITS OPERATORS, AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND LICENSORS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: (A) ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT; (B) ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE OR REMEDIATED DOCUMENTS WILL BE ERROR-FREE, UNINTERRUPTED, COMPLETELY ACCESSIBLE UNDER EVERY SCREEN READER OR ASSISTIVE HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, OR IMMUNE FROM REGULATORY OR LEGAL CHALLENGE; AND (C) ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE.

6. Limitation of Liability & Cumulative Damage Cap

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL ADAPDF, ITS PRINCIPALS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES, CONTRACTORS, LICENSORS, OR EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION:

(I) DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION;
(II) LEGAL EXPENSES, ATTORNEY FEES, COURT COSTS, DISCOVERY COSTS, OR SETTLEMENT PAYMENTS ARISING FROM ANY ACCESSIBILITY CLAIM, DEMAND LETTER, OR LAWSUIT INITIATED BY ANY THIRD PARTY;
(III) STATUTORY FINES, PENALTIES, OR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSESSMENTS LEVIED BY ANY FEDERAL, STATE, OR LOCAL REGULATORY AUTHORITY (INCLUDING UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT OR STATE CIVIL RIGHTS LAWS); OR
(IV) COSTS OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL ADAPDF’S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE EXCEED THE GREATER OF: (A) ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS ($100.00 USD), OR (B) THE TOTAL MONETARY FEES ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU TO ADAPDF IN THE THREE (3) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY.

7. Customer Indemnification & Defense Obligations

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless AdaPDF, its operators, officers, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs) arising out of or relating to:

• Your use or misuse of the service, audit reports, or remediated documents;
• Any document, file, text, image, or intellectual property uploaded by you or your end users;
• Any claim alleging that documents processed, remediated, or downloaded through AdaPDF fail to meet federal, state, local, or international accessibility laws (including ADA Title II/III, Section 508, or the California Unruh Civil Rights Act);
• Your breach of these Terms of Service or violation of applicable legal requirements.

8. Commercial Quotas, Closed-Loop Page Credits, & Financial Regulatory Disclaimers

AdaPDF operates a transparent software utility licensing model based on internal computational units designated as “Page Credits” (or “Credits”). To ensure strict adherence to federal and state financial regulations (including Financial Crimes Enforcement Network “FinCEN” rules, the Bank Secrecy Act, and state money transmitter statutes) as well as commercial payment processing standards (Stripe, PayPal, and merchant networks), the acquisition and use of Page Credits are governed by the following mandatory provisions:

8.1 Revocable Software License & Strict “No Cash Value” Policy

Page Credits constitute a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-assignable license to access AdaPDF’s algorithmic software features solely for the purpose of automated PDF accessibility tagging, structure tree synthesis, and compliant document export.

8.2 Closed-Loop Utility & Absolute Prohibition on Account Transfers

Page Credits are strictly “closed-loop” and function solely within the proprietary AdaPDF software platform:

• Single-Purpose Redemption: Page Credits may only be redeemed within the authenticated user account to initiate document downloads of remediated, conforming PDF/UA files generated by AdaPDF.
• Strict Non-Transferability: Page Credits are non-transferable. Users are strictly prohibited from transferring, sharing, assigning, gifting, selling, reselling, sublicensing, bartering, or distributing credits from one account to another (e.g., from Account A to Account B) or to any third party.
• Prohibition on Secondary Markets: No secondary market, exchange, peer-to-peer swap, or third-party brokerage of Page Credits is permitted. Any attempted sale, assignment, pledge, or transfer of Page Credits is void ab initio. Any user attempting to transfer, resell, or commercialize credits outside the AdaPDF platform will be subject to immediate account termination and permanent revocation of all accumulated credits without refund.
• Closed-Loop Regulatory Exemption: By restricting credits exclusively to the redemption of AdaPDF document remediation services within the purchaser’s individual account, the system operates squarely under the closed-loop prepaid access exemption from federal money services business and anti-money laundering (AML) licensing obligations.

8.3 Software Utilization Terminology & Payment Processor Standards

AdaPDF exclusively uses the terminology “Page Credits” (or “Credits”) to describe software processing quotas. AdaPDF does not issue, create, mint, sell, trade, custody, or facilitate “cryptographic tokens,” “digital tokens,” “cryptocurrency,” Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), or blockchain-based virtual assets. Commercial payment gateways (including Stripe, PayPal, and merchant acquiring banks) process payments solely for software licenses, digital subscription access, and one-time computational processing quotas.

8.4 Quota Deduction, Expiration, & Refund Policy

• Free Remediation & Studio Proofing: Users may upload documents, execute automated remediation, inspect side-by-side visual diff proofs, and preview synthesized screen reader streams at zero cost.
• Quota Deduction on Export: Page credits are consumed only when a user initiates a download of the final compliant PDF/UA file. Once downloaded, documents remain permanently downloadable during the document retention window without secondary credit deductions.
• Zero Expiration on Credit Packs: Purchased Pay-As-You-Go credit packs never expire.
• Monthly Subscriptions: Active SaaS subscribers receive recurring monthly quotas on their billing cycle date. Subscriptions may be cancelled anytime with one click in the customer account dashboard.
• Finality of Digital Downloads & Refund Policy: Due to the instantaneous delivery of digital remediation computing power and intellectual property, all completed credit deductions and digital downloads are final and non-refundable once the file export begins. In the event of an unexpected background job failure or system error prior to successful document delivery, deducted credits are automatically restored to the user’s balance.

9. Taxes, Fees, & Institutional Tax Exemption

All stated prices, credit pack rates, and recurring subscription fees are exclusive of applicable federal, state, local, or foreign sales, use, excise, value-added (VAT), or digital services taxes:

• Customer Responsibility: You are solely responsible for all sales, use, and other taxes associated with your purchases, except for taxes based on AdaPDF’s net corporate income. Where required by applicable law, AdaPDF will calculate and collect applicable state or local sales tax at checkout based on your billing address.
• Tax-Exempt Organizations (Municipalities & 501(c)(3) Entities): If you represent a tax-exempt entity (such as a state or local government agency, public school district, municipality, or 501(c)(3) non-profit organization), you must submit a valid, executed State Sales Tax Exemption Certificate to [email protected]. Upon verification, AdaPDF will mark your account as tax-exempt and waive sales tax on subsequent invoices. Prior tax assessments settled through payment gateways cannot be refunded retroactively.
• Tax Invoices & IRS Form W-9: Itemized tax invoices and receipts are generated for all completed transactions and accessible anytime in your customer account dashboard. An executed IRS Form W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification) is available to institutional accounts upon request for accounts payable vendor onboarding.

10. Acceptable Use & Anti-Abuse Rate Limiting

Users agree not to upload files containing malicious executable code, exploit payloads, or content violating applicable laws. To preserve high availability and server resources, AdaPDF enforces automated sliding-window rate limits (maximum 20 uploads per 5-minute rolling window per IP) and automated 60-minute document lifecycle governance.

11. Dispute Resolution, Binding Arbitration, & Class Action Waiver

Any controversy, claim, or dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the service shall be resolved through final and binding confidential arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, rather than in court.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER: YOU AND ADAPDF AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

12. Complete Agreement & Severability

These Terms of Service, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and AdaPDF regarding the service. If any provision of these Terms is held by an arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such provision shall be severed or limited to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

13. European Union Conformance: European Accessibility Act (EAA) & EN 301 549

For customers operating within or offering services into the European Economic Area (EEA), AdaPDF provides technical tooling engineered to align with Directive (EU) 2019/882 (European Accessibility Act / EAA) and the harmonised European standard EN 301 549 (Clause 10: Non-web documents).

Under the EAA, commercial economic operators (including manufacturers, importers, and digital service providers) remain legally responsible for the accessibility of digital publications, consumer statements, and electronic documentation distributed in the European Single Market. AdaPDF provides automated technical remediation to standard ISO 14289-1 (PDF/UA-1) and WCAG 2.2 criteria. In accordance with EU conformity requirements, subjective visual and contextual criteria require validation by the publishing economic entity.