Education #
Overlay Fact Sheet: Introduction, Definition, and History of Web Accessibility Overlays by Karl Groves
Legal #
Criticisms of “Quick-Fix” Website Accessibility Products Highlighted in New Lawsuit
Murphy v. Eyebobs, LLC – Western District, PA; National Class Action lawsuit against a website using an overlay. More details and research gathered to support the case can be found in this 29 page PDF
How To Remove Overlays #
AccessiBe Gone – Instructions for blocking AccessiBe and similar intrusive overlays
Podcasts on Overlays #
13 Letters – Adrian Roselli – Accessibility expert Adrian Roselli comes on the show to share his story, and talk about the questionable implications of the now-popular “accessibility overlay.”
Episode 105: The AccessiBe controversy; Jonathan Mosen podcast – Mosen at Large
Articles #
Why Accessibility Overlays On Your Website Can Make Things Worse
“…problems with leading overlays, including:
- Slower page load times
- Unreliable alt text automation
- Inconsistent keyboard access automation
- Issues with labeling fields on forms
- Incompatibility with PDFs, SVG, Flash, Java, and media files”
The Dangerous Path of the Accessibility Overlay, Joe Dolson – “Without naming any names – because it doesn’t really matter which tool it is – an accessibility overlay is a tool that fundamentally harms the future of web site accessibility. The nature of accessibility testing is to expose issues to a human being who can then act on those issues. An accessibility overlay, by nature, avoids exposing what problems it has addressed to a human being.”
AccessiBe & the fake WordPress plug-in reviews – Joe Dolson, “However, the evidence of the fake reviews is pretty damning.”
WordPress.org Removes Fake Reviews for AccessiBe Plugin
Should I Use An Accessibility Overlay? – “People who are disabled want to be treated equally, so they expect you to design and build your website with inclusion and accessibility in mind and not to throw a band-aid on it. “
HONOR THE ADA: AVOID WEB ACCESSIBILITY QUICK-FIX OVERLAYS – Lainey Feingold, Disability rights lawyer, keeps updating this article with the latest cases and information on overlays and widgets.
One Line of Code Will Not Prevent an ADA Accessibility Lawsuit – “If there is an issue for anyone trying to use the website, you will never know how to fix it and besides, for the money you’re paying for the automatic repair job, you can’t be sued, right?”
Criticisms of “Quick-Fix” Website Accessibility Products Highlighted in New Lawsuit – ” A recently-filed lawsuit recently contains a lengthy critical report by a digital accessibility consultant of accessibility issues created by an accessibility widget.”
Accessibility Overlays Do Not Work – “If you’re considering using an overlay to make your website accessible, don’t. These band-aid solutions do not properly solve for accessibility, they often worsen the CX/UX, and they will increase the likelihood of your getting sued. “
4 REASONS WHY ACCESSIBILITY OVERLAYS FALL SHORT
Automated Lies, with one line of code
Lies, Damned Lies, Overlays and Widgets
Is Deploying an Accessibility Overlay or Widget Better Than Doing Nothing?