In April 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took enforcement action against accessiBe Inc. and accessiBe Ltd., ordering the companies to pay one million dollars for deceptive claims that their accessibility widget could make any website fully compliant with accessibility standards. The FTC complaint (File No. 2223156) describes how accessiBe’s accessWidget failed to correct essential […]
The Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) recently issued guidance advising state agencies against the use of accessibility overlays and widgets on their websites. These tools, often marketed as quick fixes to make sites compliant, have been widely criticized by people with disabilities and accessibility experts for creating more barriers than they remove. DoIT’s […]
In April 2025, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced an enforcement action against the accessibility software company accessiBe, ordering it to pay one million dollars for making false and misleading claims about its automated accessibility tool, accessWidget. The ruling marks a turning point in the ongoing debate over the use of automated overlays and widgets […]
The National Federation of the Blind has issued a strong letter supporting the FTC’s proposed consent order regarding accessiBe’s misleading accessibility claims. The message is clear. Accessibility overlays and one line of code solutions do not provide real WCAG compliance, and exaggerated claims actively harm people with disabilities. Read full letter: https://nfb.org/programs-services/advocacy/policy-statements/comments-federal-trade-commission-regarding-accessibe For public entities […]