New Lawsuit Alleges AccessiBe Made False Claims About its Web Accessibility Tool
AccessiBe, a company that provides web accessibility overlay widgets, is facing a lawsuit from one of its clients, Tribeca Skin Center, a cosmetic dermatology practice based in New York.
The class action lawsuit filed earlier this summer, alleges that AccessiBe misrepresented its software products by stating that they could fully ensure ADA compliance for online accessibility. Despite using the widget, Tribeca Skin Center was sued for having an inaccessible site.
Details of the Filing
The case, titled “Sherwin K. Parikh MD, P.C. d/b/a Tribeca Skin Center vs. AccessiBe,” was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on June 24, 2024.
The 32-page document points out that AccessiBe’s promises do not match its actual delivery, particularly in meeting ADA and WCAG standards. It also raises concerns that the web accessibility widget may make the website more difficult to use for people with disabilities as it could interfere with assistive technologies.
The complaint reads, “AccessiBe advertises that its products will lower the likelihood that customers will be sued for violations of the ADA. Accessibe’s claims in this regard are false. In fact, businesses that use AccessiBe’s products are more likely to be the targets of lawsuits. Use of AccessiBe’s widget serves as a signal that a business has used a flawed shortcut to make its website accessible to people with disabilities—one that actually impedes visually impaired people from using the website.”
The compliant states AccessiBe will “provide legal support if the business ever faces legal claims that its website does not comply with the ADA.” The complaint claims the company doesn’t measure up to that promise.
“A business that faces a lawsuit must then spend thousands of dollars on legal fees to defend against the very lawsuit from which AccessiBe promised to shield it,” the complaint adds.
This class action lawsuit aims to represent all customers who have subscribed to AccessiBe’s services.
AccessiBe has yet to publicly respond to the complaint.
Tribeca Skin Center Facing Consequences
After Tribeca Skin Care purchased a one-year subscription to AccessiBe’s “AccessWidget” in 2022 for $490, the practice was served with a summons and complaint of a class action lawsuit in January 2024 for not complying with ADA requirements.
Due to the reliance on AccessiBe’s claims that the widget would make their website fully ADA-compliant, Tribeca Skin Care had to pay $4,000 for an attorney and an additional $3,500 to a website remediation company that manually fixed the issues on its website. Ultimately, the attorney settled the claim.
Past Lawsuits Against AccessiBe
AccessiBe has faced criticism for its services and practices from various corners of the A11Y community. In 2021, for instance, over 400 people — comprised of blind users, accessibility advocates, and software developers — signed an open letter urging companies to cease using automated tools like AccessiBe.
The company has also been involved in multiple lawsuits. One case involved an eyeglasses company, Eyebobs, where plaintiff Karl Groves said he found thousands of problems on 50 websites that use AccessiBe. Another case involved a grill company called Masterbuilt Manufacturing. AccessiBe contested the claims in the case involving Masterbuilt Manufacturing, and the case was reportedly settled.
Conclusion
There is a lot of controversy around automated accessibility widget providers, and this situation proves the validity of these concerns. Recent claims made by Tribeca Skin Center highlight the potential risks businesses may face when relying solely on accessibility tools.This situation underscores the need for website owners to carefully assess their current accessibility strategies and do their due diligence.
If successful, Tribeca Skin Center vs. AccessiBe could be a landmark case and potentially reshape how overlay companies can advertise their solutions. This is a development that all online businesses should closely follow.
EcomBack does not use overlays. We manually fix the underlying code of websites to address issues that may create accessibility barriers. We have previously warned businesses about the limitations of using accessibility overlays. These automated tools have been found to detect only around 30% of website issues and fail to address or fix the underlying code. Other issues include a negative impact on a site’s performance, the potential for malfunctions during basic site maintenance, a lack of flexibility, and more.
To address the remaining 70% of ADA issues, it’s crucial to invest in manual testing services from reputable service providers like EcomBack. We provide comprehensive remediation methods to ensure ADA compliance, giving you the confidence that your website is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.