They are profiteers cashing in on the demand for quick and cheap solutions. However they fail to provide the accessibility or legal protection they claim.
Meanwhile these overlay companies continue their aggressive ad campaigns filled with absolutely false claims. The Federation of the Blind even banned the largest and most notorious, AccessiBe from it's convention in 2021. In their statement, “the Board of Directors reviewed accessiBe’s business practices at the urging of members who have researched and interacted with the company, and the Board believes that accessiBe currently engages in behavior that is harmful to the advancement of blind people in society.” as reported in Forbes. After this and broad condemnation, instead the company claimed to be "demonized" (a victim like Trump) and doubled down investing in a charm offensive flooding social media, paid advertising, and websites with paid praise.
According to UsableNet's 2021 ADA Digital Accessibility Lawsuit report, over 400 lawsuits were filed against companies using widgets or overlays, stating "These solutions do nothing to make a website more accessibile for the blind."
Yet, website overlay solutions have become incredibly popular. However they fail to deliver on thier two primary claims:
- To protect website owners from ADA litigation
- To better enable people with disabilities to access websites.
None-the-less where there is demand, there is always supply. And here the demand is for a fast, easy, and cheap 508/ ADA WCAG compliance solution. A silver-bullet. Naturally there are those that will claim they can provide that. And if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And these overlay companies will say anything they want to to increase their profits.
Buyer Beware.
This article is talking about the situation in the US pertaining to compliance, but more importantly it points out the dangers of using widget and overlays here in the UK.
