There has been a lot of buzz in the marketplace discussing why web accessibility overlays are not compliant. We can say for certain that overlay companies pose their solutions as being compliant, when in fact they are not. Research shows overlay only handles up to 25% of the WCAG requirements leaving the remaining 75% inaccessible and vulnerable to lawsuits. Why? Those overlays only handle the more simple requirements which are the CSS adjustments of a website. For instance, color contrast ratios, stop animations, larger cursors, font colors and sizing, and more.  Where our partners solution differs from other layover tools is that it handles both the foreground CSS adjustments and the 75% ‘heavy background lifting’ WCAG 2.1 AA requirements like Aria attributes, assistive technology compatibility, alt tags for images, contextual understanding Ai that assigns all the correct elemental structures like pop-ups, forms, icons, buttons, and website behaviors.

If a website owner has a layover tool that does not handle the ‘heavy background lifting’ as stated above, they are definitely at a greater risk of being served a demand letter or a lawsuit.

Reports have been received from people in the disabled community in tandem with law firms around the US are grouping together to find websites that are using layovers and targetting them with ADA lawsuits and demand letters as they too know those layovers are not making their websites accessible.

In most cases, yes they can however that does not mean that it will be completely compatible with all assistive technologies like screen readers or keyboard navigation only. In addition, there are certain layover tools that have screen readers embedded within their ‘solutions’ which is purely a marketing gimmick, this is actually counterproductive since those with disabilities have their own assistive technologies and the embedded screen reader’s conflict with their own technologies.

We have extensively tested and now use this solution on our own websites and are very satisfied with the results. This affordable and simple system provides the initial ADA compliance within 48-hours of installation and re-scans each website every 24-hours to ensure ongoing compliance for new posts, pages, and content. Developed side-by-side with real people who have disabilities, this program is not just a quick fix or workaround, but a viable service designed to protect website owners and improve web accessibility for people with a wide range of disabilities.

Some of the ways that websites can become ADA compliant include manual web accessibility coding and web accessibility plug-ins. Unfortunately, the first is quite expensive and does not provide an ongoing solution. Manual coding would be required going forward to examine every new page or bit of content added to the website to verify accessibility. The second option, which involves the use of a web accessibility plug-in, will only provide a minimum percentage of compliance, which can still make you vulnerable to lawsuits.

The solution that we have found and tested on our own websites is accessiBe. It is an AI automated system that provides full ADA compliance within 48-hours and provides ongoing 24/7 maintenance to ensure that any new posts, pages, or content are also compliant with the current ADA requirements. The accessiBe AI solution offers compliance for WCAG 2.1, ADA, Section 508, and EAA/EN 301549, and delivers the industry’s highest success rate. Each website is re-scanned every 24-hours to ensure compliance. Developed side-by-side with people with disabilities, accessiBe works directly with blind people, motor and visually impaired people, people with epilepsy, and others for continued research and development.

In order to meet compliance for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), accessiBe‘s AI scans and analyzes websites to determine which functions and elements they include and makes adjustments based on the needs of the user. One example is the automatic screen-reader adjustments, which helps blind users to navigate the website. Other examples include automatic keyboard navigation adjustments for popups, buttons, and menus, as well as personal UI and design adjustments for color and contrast, stop animations and content display options. Clients who work with accessiBe will also receive an accessibility statement and certificate of performance, monthly compliance auditing, and the complete re-scanning and fixing of any new issues every 24-hours.

After up to 48-hours, most websites will be fully compliant and certified. The accessiBe AI scans and analyzes your website to determine any changes that must be made. The accessibility interface will instantly appear on your website and provide automatic compliance to the latest ADA standards. The team behind accessiBe implement the highest standards and practices for both the security of the websites that they protect and the privacy of their users. We have used accessiBe on our own website and are very pleased with the services and support that we have received. This is why we are now 100% confident to recommend it to our clients.