It's a question about written material within quotes. I was under the impression that any material within quotes should stay Exactly as it is written. Is this true, as I have been told that one can change italics to roman within quotes; add stuff, eg spell out acronyms etc. Is it true that newspapers, periodicals do this freely?
It is possible to change words in quotes to make them more understandable to your readers. However, you should make it clear that you have done so. This is usually done with square brackets.
He said, "It is designed to help."
He said, "[The machine] is designed to help."
I expect there's a lot of leniency on this subject.