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The information presented in any of the Demand Our Access podcast episodes, on the Demand Our Access website, or otherwise shared in conjunction with or through association with the Demand Our Access project is expressly not individual legal advice. Applying the law depends on the circumstances and events that comprise every situation. Since legal advice is fact-specific, nothing about the Demand Our Access project can provide an individual, a group of individuals, or any organization legal advice.
Briefly Explaining Accessibility Overlays
So we are all on the same page, I want to briefly describe the kinds of overlays involved here. Several companies, including AccessiBe, have been marketing overlays to government agencies, businesses, and nonprofits. In marketing these overlays, these companies, including AccessiBe, are selling the myth that installing these overlays will make websites fully compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The idea is that if these overlays are used, websites will fully comply with WCAG and the websites will be fully accessible.
As anyone who uses assistive technologies knows, these overlays don’t make websites fully usable to those of us who use assistive technologies. As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mentions in its document explaining the proposed consent agreement discussed soon, AccessiBe’s Access Widget doesn’t even create compliance with WCAG.
How you can Comment on the Proposed Fine of AccessiBe
Explaining AccessiBe
AccessiBe is an Israeli company that develops and sells what it calls AccessWidget. AccessiBe has been promoting the idea that all companies, government agencies, and nonprofits need to do to is install AccessWidget and their websites will be accessible to everyone. Currently, AccessiBe’s website boasts that more than 100K websites have been made accessible to everyone through the use of AccessWidget.
The current price for using AccessWidget is $490 annually for sites with less than 1,000 pages. For websites with less than 10,000 pages and for premium add-ons, the current annual cost for AccessWidget is $1,400. For sites with less than 100,000 pages and for premium add-ons, the current annual cost is $3,490.
The FTC’s Fine
On January sixth, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent agreement with AccessiBe and asked for public comment. Under the terms of the proposed consent agreement, AccessiBe would be fined $1 million for alleged violations of law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices.
Speaking about AccessiBe’s actions, the FTC’s analysis of the proposed consent agreement says the following:
This matter involves AccessiBe’s marketing and sale of a web accessibility software plug in called AccessWidget. AccessiBe represented that AccessWidget could make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (“WCAG”), a comprehensive set of technical criteria used to assess website accessibility. AccessiBe advertised these claims on its website and social media, as well as in articles that were formatted as impartial and objective reviews on third-party websites. AccessiBe also failed to disclose its material connections with the publishers of those third-party articles.
The proposed complaint alleges that AccessWidget did not make all websites WCAG compliant, and that the company’s claims were false, misleading, or unsubstantiated. The proposed complaint also alleges that formatting the third-party articles and reviews as independent opinions by impartial authors and publishers was false and misleading, and that AccessiBe’s failure to disclose its material connections with the publishers of those articles was deceptive.
The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent AccessiBe from engaging in these and similar acts and practices in the future. Provision I prohibits AccessiBe from representing that its automated products, including accessWidget’s artificial intelligence and other automated technology, can make any website WCAG compliant, or can ensure continued compliance with WCAG over time as web content changes, unless the company has competent and reliable evidence to support the representations. Provision II prohibits AccessiBe from misrepresenting any fact material to consumers about any of the company’s products or services, such as the value or total cost; any material restrictions, limitations, or conditions; or any material aspect of its performance, features, benefits, efficacy, nature, or central characteristics. Provision III prohibits AccessiBe from misrepresenting that statements made in third-party reviews, articles, or blog posts about its automated products, including accessWidget’s artificial intelligence and other automated technology, are independent opinions by impartial authors; that an endorser is an independent or ordinary user of the automated product; or that the endorser is an independent organization or is providing objective information.
The proposed consent agreement has several additional provisions. I am not going to read the rest of them here. If you’re interested, a link to the whole analysis from the FTC will be in the show notes when this episode is posted to Demand Our Access.
A Comment I Previously Submitted.
Here is a comment on the proposed consent agreement I submitted prior to recording this demo.
As a totally blind person, I’m so glad the FTC has taken action against AccessiBe. Overlays, like AccessiBe, cause those of us who use assistive technologies to use the web more problems than they solve. There are two primary reasons why AccessiBe causes those of us who use assistive technologies more problems than they solve: they give website owners a false sense of compliance; and they are frustrating for those of us who use assistive technologies to use.
Thanks to the deceptive marketing practices of AccessiBe, businesses and government agencies have been convinced to believe that installing AccessiBe’s overlay will actually make all of their site and related sites accessible. As the settlement demonstrates, the vast amount of third-party content necessary to effectively use the services offered by most businesses and government agencies will not be affected by AccessiBe’s technology unless the third-parties use the tool as well. For this reason, I’m very much looking forward to sharing the final settlement with my water company. It’s third-party portal is not accessible, even though the water company has put AccessiBe’s tool on its primary website.
AccessiBe and all of the other overlays promising WCAG compliance are frustrating to use for those of us who use assistive technologies because they change the way we typically navigate web content. Depending on the overlay being used, we have to memorize different keystrokes. In some cases, we need to activate a menu and choose different options. Both of these requirements make navigating web content slower and less efficient for those of us who use assistive technologies than web navigation is for those who don’t use assistive technologies. Also, use of overlays, like AccessiBe, will never make web content as accessible and usable as is content coded for accessibility and tested by native users of assistive technologies for usability.
Not addressed by this settlement because it’s beyond the scope of this settlement is the reality that strict compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines doesn’t actually ensure web content is fully accessible and/or usable. Even if AccessiBe was able to make all web content compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, it would not be able to promise to make all web content fully accessible to and/or usable by those of us who use assistive technologies.
I thank the FTC for taking this important action on behalf of those of us with disabilities. I’m hopeful this action will help businesses and government agencies understand that there is no substitute for coding web content for accessibility and for having native users of assistive technologies test important content for usability.
Commenting on the Proposed Consent Agreement
Tips To Remember
Before demonstrating how you can comment, I want to share a few tips that may help you figure out what to say:
- You don’t need to write a book or be overly technical.
- Even if a previous commenter has said what you were thinking of saying, we are helped by the number of comments submitted.
- Any constructive feedback helps.
- This is a relatively easy way to have your voice heard and for you to make a difference.
Deadline for Commenting
Comments on the proposed consent Agreement must be filed no later than 11:59 PM EST on February fifth. In order to file a comment on the proposed consent agreement, we will use the Regulations.gov website.
For the purposes of this demo, I am using a PC running Windows 11, Microsoft’s Edge browser, and version 2025 of the JAWS for Windows screen reader. My operating system, web browser, and screen reader are all up to date.
The Comment I will Post for This Demo
I have chosen to post this comment as a part of the demo, because I hope it shows people they don’t need to write several paragraphs, quote the agreement, or use technical language. The key is simply to share any feedback you have about the proposed consent agreement.
The Text of the Comment Being Posted
I briefly mentioned this in a previous comment, but it deserves its own comment.
The focus of the harm done to those of us with disabilities by AccessiBe, and the rest of the accessibility overlay industry, shouldn’t be limited to how overlays, like AccessWidget, don’t actually provide compliance with WCAG. It’s very important that people without disabilities recognize the cognitive overload these overlays force us to experience. Having to learn new keystrokes and/or having to select different menu options depending on the overlay being used is a barrier people without disabilities don’t experience. If websites were accessible and usable, we could navigate all websites in a similar manner. With the prevalence of these overlays, we have to take all kinds of additional steps we don’t have to take when sites are coded correctly. We have to take all of these extra steps, and as the FTC found, the extra steps don’t result in accessibility, never mind usability.
Now for the Demo
I have pasted the comment I just read to my clipboard. When I get to the comment field, I will paste it in there.
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