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Why Accessibility Widgets may not Help Prevent ADA Lawsuits?

New York Lawyer Explains

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With the increased focus on website accessibility, many companies are looking for ways to ensure ADA compliance and avoid costly lawsuits by adapting their websites, mobile apps and software to accessibility standards. Some businesses start from a website audit, accessibility testing and modification of their websites, while others opt for website overlay solutions. For the latter, installing an accessibility widget may look as the easiest and cheapest way to ensure website accessibility and avoid ADA lawsuits.

Many providers of this software market it as the solution to achieve “automated WCAG & Section 508 Compliance.” Some of them go as far as promising zero-effort guaranteed compliance as well as ADA certificates.

In reality, the number of lawsuits against companies applying accessibility widgets both in 2020 and 2021 demonstrates that overlay technology leaves much to be desired. Here is more about what accessibility widgets are, their existing limitations, and why applying them to your website is not a guarantee against the ADA accessibility lawsuits.


What Are Website Overlay Accessibility Widgets?

Website overlay widgets, aka accessibility widgets, are a collective term for software designed to improve the accessibility of websites and achieve ADA compliance. It is implemented by applying a third-party code aimed to address accessibility issues without changing the source code of a website.

The overlay widgets work by scanning a web page and automatically repairing the accessibility issues. Some overlay solutions offer only the basic functions such as image magnification, font changes or color scheme adjustments. More advanced products may offer other options, including proprietary screen readers and the application of AI technology, such as recognizing images and adding image descriptions, aka alt tags, which allow screen readers to describe images to visually impaired people.

Limitations of Accessibility Widgets

While overlay widgets do offer accessibility enhancements, their effectiveness remains limited. The majority of available accessibility widgets can help disabled people customize fonts and images on the website and make it easier to access the content. However, most of this software cannot repair all possible accessibility issues on a website.

It should also be noted that overlay solutions may not work well with all websites. When accessibility widgets modify the pages, they can create problems because of conflicts with screen reader technology. Besides, most overlay widgets do not improve accessibility for internal workplace tools or mobile apps, which play an even bigger role than websites in many sectors, for example, in e-commerce.

Last but not least, accessibility widgets create issues for the privacy and security of data. When disabled users try to access a website that doesn’t have its own accessibility features, they have to activate a widget. In doing so, such users have to share information about their disabilities. It is also reported that more than one-third of users indicated that they feel not comfortable while allowing websites and website owners to detect that they are using a screen-reader by activating an accessibility widget.

Why Are Companies Using Web Overlay Solutions Get Sued?

In 2021, several hundred people with impaired vision, software developers and accessibility advocates signed an open letter urging businesses to stop using website overlay solutions. This letter is echoed by many other organizations and educational institutions, for example, Berkeley University of California, who are saying it upfront that they recommend that “..you do not use any third-party scripts to try to fix your site’s underlying accessibility issues.”

That said, It comes as no surprise that businesses employing overlay technology to address website accessibility issues will continue to get sued. According to UsableNet’s accessibility report for the year 2020, there were 250 lawsuits filed against businesses using overlay widgets. In the following year, the experts reported that the number of such cases had almost doubled and reached 400. The same sources say that the accessibility widgets offer no relief and can even create barriers to equal access to a website, giving plaintiffs more claims to add to a lawsuit.

Summary

Even though accessibility widgets can improve the user experience for impaired people in some cases, this technology cannot compensate for all potential issues on a webpage. Meanwhile, full ADA compliance means that all requirements of website accessibility standards should be met, which is so far impossible with existing overlay solutions.

If you are hit with an accessibility lawsuit or consider your options to ensure compliance, it is advisable to get in touch with experienced ADA defense lawyers as soon as possible. Please don’t hesitate to contact Samuel Law Firm’s defense team in New York at 646-663-4228 or send us an email at michael@thesamuellawfirm.com for a free consultation on how we can help in yo

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