We’re pleased to introduce accessible PDF exports in FromThePage. For public libraries, public universities, and other state and local institutions, the Department of Justice has established WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the accessibility standard for web content—including documents such as PDFs. Compliance deadlines are now April 2027 or April 2028, depending on the size of the … [Read more...] about Introducing Accessible PDF Exports in FromThePage
artificial intelligence
AI in FromThePage
AI in FromThePage is always optional, transparent and tentative – we don’t run AI on your material without explicit permission, and we flag and log every use of AI in transcriptions. Our terms of use with our AI service provide explicitly state "Content not used to improve our products." In other words, your material is not used to train their models. AI technology -- and … [Read more...] about AI in FromThePage
Botsitting and Moral Disengagement
Early this month, my trusty development laptop broke. Thanks to shipping problems in Vietnam and severe weather in Kentucky, the replacement was delayed for ten days. I was stuck with the computer we use for videoconferences, without any of the tools we use for writing or testing software. How could I do my job with just a web browser? Fortunately, I already had some … [Read more...] about Botsitting and Moral Disengagement
We Thought This Transcriber Was a Bot
An institution recently emailed and asked: “Are you doing some AI experiment on my collection without telling me? I see this one transcriber who really feels like they are using AI.” I started typing a standard response: Of course we’re not testing AI on your collection without telling you. Have you checked the suspicious behaviors dashboard? Have you considered turning … [Read more...] about We Thought This Transcriber Was a Bot
The AI Encyclical and the Question of Efficiency: When "Easier" isn't "Better"
Last week, I was corresponding with my friend Laura Morreale about the results of Gemini transcription on this Crusader-era manuscript. The differences between the AI results and Laura’s are fairly interesting: there are some mis-readings, like y for ii, but about half of the differences are reasonable editorial decisions. Gemini represents long s as the character ſ and retains … [Read more...] about The AI Encyclical and the Question of Efficiency: When "Easier" isn't "Better"