Privacy Policy for Access-a-Reader

Last Updated: September 18, 2026

Access-a-Reader ("the app") is a free web app developed by Carrie on Accessibility. This policy explains what information the app handles and how.

Summary

Your documents never leave your device. Everything the app does to a PDF or an image — drawing it in dark mode, recognising the text on scanned pages, your highlights and notes, saving a new PDF — happens inside your browser, on your own computer or phone. Nothing about the content of your files is sent to us or to anyone else. The app has no accounts and no advertising. Like the rest of the CoA Apps site, it counts visits anonymously so we know whether it is being used.

Your Documents

A PDF or image you open is read directly from your device into the browser tab. It is never uploaded. Text recognition for scanned pages uses a recognition engine that is downloaded once to your browser (about 6 MB) and runs entirely on your device. When you save a copy, the new PDF is made in your browser and written wherever you choose to save it.

What Is Stored, and Where

Access-a-Reader keeps the following in your browser's own storage, on your device:

• Your page colour options, text brightness, zoom and other preferences.
• Your highlights, pen marks, notes and stamps, keyed to the file they belong to, so they come back when you open the same file again.
• The text recognised on scanned pages, so it does not have to be recognised again next time.
• In Chrome and Edge, a list of your recent files, so they can be reopened with one tap. The browser asks your permission before the app reads a remembered file again.
• A copy of the app's own files, so it can work offline once installed.

None of this is transmitted to us. It stays in the one browser you're using, and you can clear all of it by clearing your browser's site data for this app. There is currently no way to sync any of it across devices.

Anonymous Usage Counting

The CoA Apps site, including this app's page and the app itself, counts page views and app openings so we can see whether our apps are being used. This counting is anonymous: it records that a page was opened, the day, and general information such as the language of your browser and whether it is a phone or a computer. It uses a random identifier stored in your browser that is not tied to your name, an account or an email, and it never sees the contents of your documents. No advertising or third-party tracking is used.

Optional Sign-in on the Site

The CoA Apps site offers an optional account for saving favourites across the site. Access-a-Reader itself does not use or require an account, and nothing in the app is tied to one.

What We Don't Do

• We do not receive, store or see your documents, their text, or your markup.
• We do not collect personally identifiable information, health information, financial information, personal communications or browsing history.
• We do not display advertising, and we do not sell, rent or share data with any third party.

Your Control Over Your Data

• You can delete any highlight, mark, note or stamp within the app, and clear the recent files list from the start screen.
• You can clear everything the app has stored at any time by clearing your browser's site data for this app, or by using your browser's private/incognito mode.
• Because your documents are never uploaded and there is no account, there is nothing for us to delete on our end.

Children's Privacy

Access-a-Reader does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children, because it does not collect personal information from anyone at all — your files and your markup stay on your own device.

Changes to This Policy

If this policy changes — for example, if a future version adds an optional way to sync your markup across devices, or an optional cloud text-recognition service that you switch on yourself — the updated version will be posted here with a new "Last Updated" date.

Contact

Questions about this policy or the app can be sent to email@carrieonaccessibility.com.