No. An overlay is a script that adds a toolbar or tries to repair a page as it loads; it doesn’t change the site’s own code, and it can’t guarantee WCAG compliance. In 2025 the Federal Trade Commission ordered accessiBe, a major overlay vendor, to pay $1 million over claims that its AI tool could make any website compliant.
What an overlay does
An overlay is a third-party script added to a site with one line of code. Most add a toolbar for visitors to change text size, contrast or spacing, and some use automation to guess at fixes such as missing image descriptions while the page loads. The site’s own HTML, the thing an accessibility claim is about, stays as it was.
The FTC’s order against accessiBe
In January 2025 the FTC said accessiBe had claimed its accessWidget could make any website compliant with WCAG, and alleged that it “did not make all user websites WCAG-compliant” and that the claims were “false, misleading, or unsubstantiated” (FTC (opens in a new tab)). The final order, approved on April 22, 2025, requires accessiBe to pay $1 million and bars it from claiming its automated products can make any website WCAG-compliant, or keep it compliant over time, without evidence (FTC (opens in a new tab)). The FTC also alleged accessiBe formatted paid reviews to look independent.
What the Justice Department says about automated tools
Its 2022 guidance (opens in a new tab) calls automated checkers and overlays “helpful tools” that “need to be used carefully,” and warns that “a ‘clean’ report does not necessarily mean everything is accessible.” It recommends pairing automated checks with a manual check.
What to do instead
- Scan the site to find the failures a tool can detect, page by page.
- Fix them in the code: the templates and components, so a fix covers every page.
- Test what a tool can’t, such as keyboard operation and focus order. Our WCAG criteria pages say which need a person.
- Keep a dated record of what you found and fixed.
BearScan is a scanner, not an overlay: it reports what’s wrong and how to fix it, and never claims a site is compliant.
Questions
What did the FTC order accessiBe to do?
Pay $1 million, and stop claiming that its automated products can make any website WCAG-compliant or keep it compliant over time unless it has evidence to support the claim. The FTC announced the case on January 3, 2025 and approved the final order on April 22, 2025.
Is an accessibility overlay illegal?
No. The FTC's order was about accessiBe's marketing claims, not about overlays being unlawful. The problem for a business is relying on one: a site with an overlay can still have the underlying accessibility problems a lawsuit cites.
What should I use instead of an overlay?
Fix the site's own code. Scan it to find what a tool can detect, test the rest with a keyboard and a screen reader, and fix the failures in the templates and components where they start.