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For Blind Internet Users, the Fix Can Be Worse Than the Flaws

A (paywalled) New York Times article, offering a rare mainstream insight into the use of overlays that claim to fix accessibility problems and defend companies from litigation.

It tells the story of Patrick Perdue, who had been happily using a radio equipment shop website for some time, before the shop started using an automated accessibility overlay from accessiBe. Patrick found that the site was suddenly unusable, hiding checkout and shopping cart buttons from his screen reader, as well as hiding the site’s search box and headers.

“I’ve not yet found a single [overlay] that makes my life better”, says Patrick. And the litigation promise doesn’t appear to be holding water either, with over 400 companies sued over accessibility last year, despite having an accessibility widget or overlay on their website.

The three major overlay providers, AudioEye, UserWay and accessiBe all claim their products will get better over time and acknowledge that their current offerings “aren’t perfect”. Accessibility experts would prefer companies not to use such overlays, believing that hiring and training employees to build their websites to be more accessible is the answer. Mr Moradi of AudioEye advocates a hybrid approach that combines automation and manual fixes, with the expectation that automation abilities will gradually improve.

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