The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sponsored a review of accessiBe, a startup that claims to make websites more compatible with screen readers used by visually impaired people to access the Internet. The company was fined for posting false advertisements without disclosing the facts and for rewarding reviewers.
In the proposed order, the FTC would require accessiBe to pay $1 million, which can be used to refund money to its customers, and prohibit accessiBe from exaggerating the capabilities of its tools. The order would also require accessiBe to “clearly and conspicuously” highlight its connections to supporters of its services.
“Companies looking for website production support” [accessibility] Compliant companies must be able to trust that their products will perform as advertised,” FTC Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine said in a statement. “Exaggerating a product’s … features without sufficient evidence is deception, and the FTC will act to prevent it.”
New York-based accessiBe sells AI-powered plugins. This allows any website to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This plugin is a set of technical criteria used to evaluate the accessibility of websites. The company pitches its services as a shield against lawsuits for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a federal civil rights law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination.
accessiBe, founded in 2018 by entrepreneurs Dekel Schoop, Gal Wisel and Shah Ekerling, has raised $58.5 million in venture capital from investors including Los Angeles-based private equity firm K1 succeeded in doing so. At one point, accessiBe's customers included government agencies such as Pillsbury, Benadryl, Playmobil, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Louisiana Department of Health.
But many advocacy groups and customers say accessiBe's product doesn't work.
Tools like accessiBe can prevent screen-reading applications used by visually impaired users that read website content from reading the page correctly, and can even make some web pages unnavigable. There is a gender. Customers are suing accessiBe in a class action lawsuit alleging that the company's products fail to make their websites fully compliant with ADA standards.
At its 2021 convention, the American Federation of the Blind called accessiBe's marketing and business practices “disrespectful and misleading.” That same year, 400 visually impaired people, accessibility advocates, and software developers signed an open letter calling on companies that use automated services like accessiBe to stop.
According to digital accessibility provider UsableNet, more than 400 companies with accessibility widgets or overlays on their websites were sued over accessibility in 2021.
accessiBe isn't the only vendor selling automated accessibility tools for websites. However, it has been accused of adopting a “defensive” and dismissive style and making lofty claims in its engagement with the accessibility community.
According to the FTC, accessiBe not only failed to deliver on its promises to customers, but also engaged in misleading marketing. In a press release, the agency warned that access to “third-party articles and reviews that are incorrectly formatted” to appear as independent opinions by impartial authors, and that reviewers who are supposed to be objective He said the company had not disclosed any “significant connections” with the company.
The FTC's order was approved unanimously by the FTC's five commissioners and will be subject to 30 days of public comment, after which the commission will make a final decision.
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