Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Website overlay companies prefer to fight against a11y experts rather than listen (nbcnews.com)
submitted by Marconius
aaronespinozaca 3 points 2y ago
MostlyBlindGamer 3 points 2y ago
You can't blame anybody for wanting an easy solution to any problem, but paying for this magical service and then getting sued, because of course it didn't work doesn't sound very fun.
rumster 2 points 2y ago
But it's magic! It will just fix everything!
MostlyBlindGamer 2 points 2y ago
Yeah... It's really important that the real experts are making it clear that it's not.
Like I said, companies should make accessible websites from that get go, but I can't really blame then for falling for this pitch.
Like I said, companies should make accessible websites from that get go, but I can't really blame then for falling for this pitch.
Superfreq2 3 points 2y ago
The problem is that sites like Accessibe have convinced them that said experts are only out for money and nothing else, so they aren't to be trusted.
MostlyBlindGamer 2 points 2y ago
Maybe the letters need to be replaced with lawsuits to drive the point home.
rumster 2 points 2y ago
Oh, I know.
CautionarySnail 1 points 2y ago
While I sympathize that many companies don't feel like they have the budget or internal expertise to do a11y on their own, I can't believe experienced businesspeople are falling for the snake oil that these overlay companies are pitching.
If your a11y experts pitch an a11y project at $25,000 and an overlay company claims they can do the same for $500/month, there's little excuse for not doing basic due diligence about why there's such a vast difference in the cost and effort.
At the very least, companies should be having their internal legal team review the terms of service of the overlay before paying for it. accessiBe's Terms of Service (at least when I reviewed it last) seemed to read that they're promising you no legal protection against lawsuits if a site was not already fully compliant BEFORE their overlay is added.
To be honest, I'm not sure what their overlay gets their business -- just the warm fuzzies of going through the motions, I'm guessing. But ultimately, if their goal is 'protection from lawsuits', they're really not getting the insurance policy they think they're buying with that protection money.
If your a11y experts pitch an a11y project at $25,000 and an overlay company claims they can do the same for $500/month, there's little excuse for not doing basic due diligence about why there's such a vast difference in the cost and effort.
At the very least, companies should be having their internal legal team review the terms of service of the overlay before paying for it. accessiBe's Terms of Service (at least when I reviewed it last) seemed to read that they're promising you no legal protection against lawsuits if a site was not already fully compliant BEFORE their overlay is added.
To be honest, I'm not sure what their overlay gets their business -- just the warm fuzzies of going through the motions, I'm guessing. But ultimately, if their goal is 'protection from lawsuits', they're really not getting the insurance policy they think they're buying with that protection money.
Superfreq2 -1 points 2y ago
I agree with one thing the CEO said. Most people joining this anti Accessibee movement have had little to know experience with the actual product and know nothing about web accessibility best practices.
Marconius [OP] 5 points 2y ago
I strongly disagree, the movement has been brought about by us a11y experts and there really isn't a silent majority of folks who actually like using their product, which is what the CEO loves to assert any time he is question. Not every blind person is an expert in WCAG or how to make things usable, but all users across the spectrum of tech knowledge have issues with overlays since not every site is built the same way. Where it could work on one, it will decimate another in terms of how well it functions with a screen reader or other assistive tech, plus they don't do anything in terms of overall ongoing accessibility of the site moving forwards. Developers start designing away expecting the overlay to keep up with their features or design to appease the AI but not actually talk to real users, and that just perpetuates bad inaccessible design and makes everything worse. They never showed off their software to average users, they just threw it out there and expected us to love it without any research or feedback, and now they are reaping the repercussions.
Superfreq2 1 points 2y ago
Hey hey, you don't have to convince me of any of that. I'm no fan of AccessiBe in particular or overlays in general. I totally agree with all of your points, especially that "silent majority" bullshit he keeps spouting. Just because people aren't complaining much as a whole doesn't mean they don't have a problem. There are allot of less self serving explanations that make more sense, such as communication issues, contact method inaccessibility, lack of time or drive, lack of awareness ETC, and we're a small group as it is.
My point was simply that while A11Y professionals did start this movement and still spearhead it for the most part, I have observed that many people who have more recently latched on to the movement are those who have very briefly or not at all tried a few different sites with AccessiBe on them, nor do they know even the basic concepts of web accessibility. In their position I would do more research than that before forming an opinion, and I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation.
So yes, I do think the CEO said a truthful thing, based on my own observations, even if I disagree with basically everything else he says. Just because a truth comes from someone you don't like doesn't mean it can't be valid if viewed objectively.
My point was simply that while A11Y professionals did start this movement and still spearhead it for the most part, I have observed that many people who have more recently latched on to the movement are those who have very briefly or not at all tried a few different sites with AccessiBe on them, nor do they know even the basic concepts of web accessibility. In their position I would do more research than that before forming an opinion, and I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation.
So yes, I do think the CEO said a truthful thing, based on my own observations, even if I disagree with basically everything else he says. Just because a truth comes from someone you don't like doesn't mean it can't be valid if viewed objectively.
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