Melle, Germany - April 21, 2026 - ProjectWizards GmbH today releases adoc Studio 4. The authoring environment for Mac, iPad, and iPhone now exports documents as accessible PDFs compliant with the PDF/UA standard (ISO 14289) for the first time, without any additional export plugin and without manual rework in Adobe Acrobat. Companies that have fallen under the German Accessibility Act (BFSG) since June 28, 2025 gain an alternative to the established tool chain of Word, export plugins, and validation utilities.

The rule applies broadly: it covers every company offering digital products or services to consumers, except micro-enterprises with fewer than ten employees and less than two million Euros in annual revenue. Violations can lead to fines of up to 100,000 Euros per individual case, issued by the Federal Network Agency.

Accessible PDFs: Time-Consuming, Error-Prone, Tool-Heavy

The PDF/UA standard requires a complete tag structure, a logical reading order, and alternative text for every non-text element. Existing workflows usually demand several tools: a source document in Word or InDesign, an export plugin such as axesWord or MadeToTag, a check with the PDF Accessibility Checker (PAC), and finally manual corrections in Adobe Acrobat Pro. The process is slow, error-prone, and requires expertise that many editorial teams lack. A recent analysis illustrates the scale of the problem: in a sample of 62 technical industrial documents from eight regulated sectors, not a single one met the PDF/UA standard in March 2026.

Source: www.adoc-studio.app/studies/pdfua-2026

PDF/UA From the First Keystroke

adoc Studio takes a different approach. The app is built on AsciiDoc, a markup language that captures structure and semantics directly in the source: headings, lists, tables, image descriptions, and language attributes live in the text itself rather than being added later. On export, adoc Studio 4 translates this structure automatically into a fully tagged PDF/UA document. Post-processing in external tools is no longer needed.

The output is controlled through a CSS stylesheet. Font sizes, color contrast, and page margins can be defined and changed centrally without touching the content. Teams can produce consistent, accessible documents at any volume, from a technical manual to an annual report.

“Accessible PDFs don’t fail because of a lack of will. They fail because of broken tool chains. If you write in Word, you need a plugin for the export, a checker for validation, and Acrobat for the corrections. We wanted a path where accessibility comes from the text structure, not from post-processing.”
Frank Blome, CEO, ProjectWizards GmbH

The German Accessibility Act (BFSG) implements the European Accessibility Act (Directive EU 2019/882) into German law. For technical documentation, product information, and customer communication, this means that PDF documents published on or after June 29, 2025 must meet the requirements of EN 301 549, which in practice translates to PDF/UA compliance.

Availability and Pricing

adoc Studio 4 is available now on the Apple App Store for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. The Community Edition with AsciiDoc editor, HTML export, and project management remains free forever. The Pro Edition with PDF/UA export, translation management, and AI integration costs $249.99 per year or $24.99 per month.

For more information, visit www.adoc-studio.app.

About ProjectWizards

ProjectWizards GmbH, headquartered in Melle, Germany, has been developing productivity software for Apple platforms since 2004. The company’s flagship product, Merlin Project, is a hybrid project management tool for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. With adoc Studio, the company has offered an integrated authoring environment for technical documentation based on AsciiDoc since 2024. ProjectWizards is a member of tekom, the German Society for Technical Communication.

More information: www.projectwizards.net

Press Contact

Marvin Blome
Marketing Manager, ProjectWizards GmbH
Email: press@projectwizards.net
Web: www.adoc-studio.app/press