Due to the proliferation of products offering web accessibility overlays, serious issues have arisen with regard to poor user experience on web pages using these solutions.
Many of these issues are caused by the resulting laxity of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as regards digital accessibility.
This Act only requires organisations and companies to offer reasonable adjustment to web pages, and not a minimum web accessibility level as in Europe and other parts of the world.
Such is the case of Patrick Perdue, a visually impaired American who often browses the web using his screen reader and who has encountered various barriers imposed by automated accessibility tools.
Products that are implemented using a web accessibility overlay often use unsupervised automated systems or artificial intelligence that prevent users from getting the true web accessibility they need.
This occurs because these tools only add a number of options through a JavaScript code that modifies some aspects of the web page using menus and buttons.
They offer a solution that is already included in most browsers, such as increasing or decreasing contrast or font size.
These options are usually activated using the mouse or keyboard, which represents a significant barrier for the visually impaired or users with severe upper limb motor impairment who wish to turn them on.
In addition, they often generate conflicts with web page code, which can render some interactive modules ineffective, or lead to the incorrect coding of image tags, buttons or headers.
Currently hundreds of people with disabilities have filed complaints and lawsuits against companies or institutions that have implemented tools based on web accessibility overlays on their websites.
A number of digital accessibility providers have reported that in 2021, more than 400 companies were sued as a result of the accessibility barriers generated by these tools.
Add to this the open letter signed by more than 700 accessibility advocates and web developers asking organisations to put an end to the use of such products.
Therefore, if you really want to comply with web accessibility regulations, we do not recommend the use of these automated tools.
Remember that European regulations and others around the world require compliance with WCAG 2.1 requirements and standards, many of these with the tool deactivated.
A requirement which we meet at inSuit, as we examine each case separately, our experts in web accessibility and usability performing a thorough analysis of the client’s website.
The aim of all this is to adapt the web page to the required accessibility rules, in order to ensure our tool performs without errors and adjusts to user needs, regardless of their disability type or status.
It is important to note that 70% of WCAG-related errors can easily go unnoticed.
That is why our team of web usability and accessibility experts put a lot of effort and dedication into reviewing, monitoring and manually adjusting websites.
This enables us to modify the code of our clients’ websites in real time, from the cloud, implementing the necessary solutions to correct any accessibility errors found.
And ultimately, this is how we guarantee web accessibility at Level AA, even when our tool is not activated.
When the tool is enabled via the navigation tab, inSuit divides the web page into a number of sections that can be viewed and identified by means of numbered markers.
This is an easy way to identify sections for users wishing to access and browse the web page either through voice commands or other interfaces that we make available.
This division and labelling of the page structure is manually carried out by our team of experts, who guarantee that the numbering is consistent with each of the page sections.
This advantage is not offered in products using web accessibility overlays, which limit navigation performed using voice input, since these tools require the use of a keyboard or mouse.
This is extremely limiting for those people who want to navigate and who also have severe visual or motor impairments.
By executing actions that complement each other, inSuit’s solution addresses both regulatory compliance and enables barrier-free navigation for all users, regardless of their disability type or status.
inSuit is a web accessibility solution that works without being noticed by users. It also offers a series of navigation tools with technical aids that fully cover user needs.
This enables websites to optimally pass web accessibility audits. This would be impossible with an accessibility overlay since during an audit, the overlay must be deactivated for review purposes. What’s more, the overlay does not modify the code in order to rectify web accessibility errors.
inSuit 360 will help you comply with legal regulations. We will guide and support you throughout, helping you with web accessibility reports and statements required by law.
Join the web accessibility and regulatory compliance movement with inSuit!
