Accessibility Overlays: Definition, Challenges, Alternatives

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Accessibility Overlays: Definition, Challenges, Alternatives

Posted March 12, 2025

AudioEye

Posted March 12, 2025

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An accessibility overlay is software designed to increase website accessibility. Learn more about overlays, how they’re used, their limitations, and what alternatives to overlays are available.

Originally Posted on March 22, 2024

As the focus on web accessibility continues to increase, businesses across industries are looking for fast, inexpensive ways to ensure their website complies with accessibility laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508. The need for organizations to meet accessibility requirements is heightened by the continued increase of accessibility lawsuits, with 8,800 ADA lawsuits filed in 2024 (a 7% increase from 2023).

In their haste to meet compliance requirements, organizations often look for quick fixes — like a tech tool that claims to meet ADA and Section 508 standards with a single line of code. This is what most web accessibility overlays claim to do — remove accessibility barriers all at once and bring your digital content into complete compliance. 

Here’s the reality: installing a web accessibility overlay does not make your site compliant with accessibility laws. There’s so much more that goes into web accessibility.

Below, you’ll learn exactly what an accessibility overlay is, how it’s used in site accessibility, and why overlays are a “band-aid” to accessibility. You’ll also learn how and why overlays should be used in conjunction with other accessibility solutions to truly make your digital content compliant and accessible.

What is an Accessibility Overlay?

An accessibility overlay (also called an accessibility widget or accessibility plugin) is an automated software solution designed to detect and modify certain accessibility issues on a website without requiring direct changes to the site’s source code. These tools typically rely on rules-based automation and JavaScript injections to alter the way content is presented to users rather than addressing accessibility issues at the code level. 

More simply, overlays identify basic accessibility problems — like poor color contrast or bad spacing — and change them to be more accessible.

Because overlays operate on top of a website’s existing structure, they do not modify the underlying HTML, CSS, or JavaScript of the site itself. Instead, they dynamically alter the user interface during the browsing session.

There are a few different types of overlays:

  • User-controlled UI toolbars: Also called customization widgets, these tools give users the ability to modify color contrast, font size, text spacing, or cursor size. They typically appear as icons pinned to the screen that open as settings menus.
  • Automated script-based fixes: These tools use JavaScript injections to make real-time adjustments, like changing color contrast levels or detecting missing alt text, on a website. 
  • Hybrid overlays: Hybrid overlays combine UI customization with automated fixes, to identify and adjust accessibility barriers dynamically. More advanced features are typically available through a subscription-based model.
  • Enterprise-level overlays with dashboard monitoring: These include real-time scanning and automated reporting on accessibility issues. Some can integrate with broader accessibility automation tools for compliance tracking.

Example of a Web Accessibility Overlay

Say a user visits a website with an accessibility overlay enabled. Once they load the page, an accessibility widget appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. The user clicks on the icon, opening a menu with options to:

  • Increase or decrease the font size.
  • Adjust the spacing between lines and paragraphs.
  • Enable high-contrast or grayscale mode.
  • Highlight links or add underlines for better visibility.

Meanwhile, in the background, the overlay automatically applies JavaScript-based fixes to adjust elements like form labels, button contrast, or missing ARIA attributes. However, these fixes do not alter the site’s source code, meaning the website’s original accessibility issues remain unresolved when the overlay is resolved. We’ll discuss this in more detail below.

Is AudioEye an Accessibility Overlay?

AudioEye is not a single piece of software (like an overlay is). Rather, AudioEye is a comprehensive accessibility platform that relies on AI-driven technology, expert audits from the disability community, and testing during the development process to detect and fix accessibility issues.

Challenges of Using an Accessibility Overlay

While overlay tools can improve some of your site’s accessibility, they are not a complete fix.

Think of accessibility overlays as a band-aid. Band-aids aren’t meant to be left on permanently; they’re torn off and removed after the injury they’re covering has healed. Injuries or additional damage beneath the surface are likely still there. 

The same thing is true of overlays. They’re a temporary fix to address specific, critical accessibility issues — the underlying website code still needs to be updated to provide a long-term fix.

Because overlays are considered a band-aid solution, they create numerous challenges for organizations. We’ll discuss a few of these below.

Inhibits an Inclusive User Experience

Rather than increasing accessibility for users, overlays can create more accessibility issues for users with disabilities. For example, many overlays have to be activated via a toolbar or button, which may not be accessible to specific users. Even when the overlay is activated, two major issues still remain:

First, accessibility overlays are not designed to fix accessibility issues in a webpage’s HTML code. This means users with disabilities may not be able to navigate the website as easily as non-disabled users.

The other issue is most overlays fail to adapt to a user’s specific settings on their assistive technology devices (i.e., screen readers, screen magnifiers, or text-to-speech software). Often, overlays ignore these specific settings and force users to use the overlay’s settings, which may not be accessible to certain users.

Each of these barriers results in an exclusive experience that alienates parts of your user base. This can result in poor brand perception, potential revenue ross, and an increased risk of accessibility lawsuits. 

Ultimately, overlays may create a different experience for users with disabilities, which contradicts the goals of digital inclusion (which is to provide equal access for all), accessibility, and compliance standards. The best way to ensure an equal experience for all and meet accessibility requirements is to fix accessibility issues.

Does Not Solve for ADA Requirements or WCAG Standards

Meeting ADA compliance requirements and conforming with the accessibility standards included Meeting ADA compliance requirements and conforming with the accessibility standards included in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) requires more testing and expertise than overlays can provide. Remember, accessibility overlays are code applied to the top of your website — little, if any, remediation work is being done to address accessibility issues and conform with WCAG 2.1 standards. 

Without actually remediating accessibility errors, your organization is vulnerable to legal action. These actions come in the form of accessibility lawsuits and demand letters that can be costly, time-consuming, and permanently damaging to your company’s reputation. 


To be fully compliant with ADA requirements and meet WCAG conformance standards, you need a more in-depth approach to accessibility. Combining both automated and human testing enables you to find more accessibility issues and fix them at the source, resulting in a more compliant and accessible web.

Diminishes Website Performance

Though most overlay companies claim they can improve website accessibility and the overall user experience with their product, the reality is that most diminish website performance. This is because most are hosted on a third-party server that you have little to no control over — even as a site owner. For example, if an overlay script is slow to load, you have no ability to fix it.

Even custom overlays — which are supposed to be flexible and customizable — can break when small changes are made to your website. This can render the whole overlay useless, further decreasing the performance of your website.

Can’t Detect Most Accessibility Issues

According to most accessibility experts, overlays are only capable of detecting roughly 20-30% of accessibility issues, meaning the majority of errors aren’t detectable — let alone accessible — by overlays. Some of the items that accessibility overlays can’t detect include:

  • Unlabeled or mislabeled form fields
  • Missing or non-descriptive anchor text links
  • Poor or missing alternative text (alt text)
  • Consistent web element identification
  • Incorrect heading structure
  • Lack of closed captions or transcripts
  • Keyboard traps
  • Missing links
  • Non-customizable display orientation
  • Inaccessible layout tables or forms
  • Poor focus order
  • No input change


These are just a few of the WCAG 2.1 success criteria overlays can’t detect. This ultimately leaves numerous accessibility gaps in your digital content that negatively impact the user experience and leave you vulnerable to non-compliance lawsuits.

May Compromise Personal Data

The use of overlays on websites has raised concerns about the security and privacy of user data. For example, some overlays are designed to automatically detect if a user is using assistive technology. This exposes the fact that a user has a disability, which may be information they may not want to share.

Some overlays can capture the specific settings a user chooses and apply those settings to other sites with the same overlay or widget. Whether the user wants those particular settings to “follow” them or not is out of their control. When this is done without consent from the user, their privacy is breached.

An empty form on a landing page, with an accessibility symbol in the lower left corner.

Alternatives to Accessibility Overlays

Because overlays may fall short in improving website accessibility, you’ll want to consider alternative web accessibility tools — ones that prioritize accessibility and provide long-term benefits. We’ll discuss a few more of those tools below.

Free Scanning Tool

Arguably, the best place to get started with increasing website accessibility is with free scanning tools. These tools can automatically scan webpages or other digital content and highlight accessibility issues. It’s important to note that these tools may not catch all accessibility errors but can give you a good starting point for enhancing accessibility.


For example, AudioEye’s free Web Accessibility Scanner scans your site for 30 WCAG violations — more than any other tool on the market — and uncovers accessibility issues like poor functionality, low color contrast, missing alt text, and more. With these results, you have a clear starting point to increasing accessibility and ensuring your site is ADA-compliant. 

In-Depth Site Audits

Conducting in-depth accessibility audits can help to uncover more accessibility issues. We recommend using both automated testing tools and expert audits conducted by human testers to find and fix more accessibility issues. Both automated and manual audits involve testing webpages against WCAG 2.1 success criteria and determining whether they fulfill accessibility standards. 

For example, audits will look at website elements such as navigation, forms, multimedia content, and interactive features to ensure users with disabilities can easily use the content.

Accessibility Training for Website Managers

Accessibility training for website managers, developers, designers, and content creators is essential for fostering a culture of accessibility within your organization. Consider offering training sessions that delve into accessibility topics such as accessibility standards and laws (i.e., WCAG, ADA, Section 508, etc.), accessible design best practices, the importance of testing with users with disabilities, and more. 

For example, AudioEyeQ is an expert-led accessibility learning platform that is 100% free and self-paced. Our courses cover accessible coding, accessibility testing basics, accessible design practices, and foundations of accessibility —everything needed to meet compliance standards and create accessible content.

Equipping your team with the knowledge and skills needed to create and maintain accessible websites enables your organization to integrate accessibility into your workflows and projects from the beginning.

Accessibility Remediation Tools

Once you’ve identified accessibility issues, you need to take proactive, strategic steps to remediate them. The following tools can help you do this:

  • Auto remediation: Auto remediations involve using software to automatically apply accessibility fixes to a website’s pre-existing code.
  • Expert testing: Expert testing involves using a team of humans to manually check website elements against WCAG 2.1 success criteria, ADA requirements, or other accessibility standards. The approach is helpful in finding and fixing accessibility issues that software alone cannot detect. 
  • Guided: Guided remediations combine the speed of software with the skill of human judgment to resolve accessibility errors. 
  • User-controlled: User-controlled remediations enable users to implement certain accessibility fixes and adjustments. AudioEye’s Accessibility Help Desk is a good example of this type of remediation. 


Learn more about AudioEye’s accessibility fixes.

Automated Accessibility Tools

One thing to understand about accessibility overlays — they are different from automated accessibility tools. 

Remember, overlays modify the user’s experience on the front end without fixing the underlying accessibility issues in a website’s code and rely on scripts to adjust website elements, as we mentioned above. 

Automated accessibility tools, on the other hand, scan your website’s code to detect accessibility issues. These tools analyze elements like heading structure, all text usage, ARIA attributes, and keyboard navigation to provide a more comprehensive view of accessibility gaps. Unlike overlays, automated tools don’t attempt to “fix” issues in real-time; instead, they generate reports that guide developers in making necessary code-level improvements.

Let AudioEye Improve Your Website’s Accessibility

The most important thing to remember about accessibility overlays is they’re a band-aid — a temporary fix to overcoming digital accessibility challenges. Even though overlays provide a quick fix, they fail to provide the accessibility and usability necessary to be considered compliant with accessibility laws and regulations.

True compliance and accessibility come from using accessibility platforms like AudioEye. Our powerful accessibility platform combines automation and human-assisted AI technology to detect and fix digital accessibility issues. Using a three-pronged approach to accessibility, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your digital content is compliant, accessible, and usable. 

Move beyond short-term band-aid fixes to accessibility. Schedule a demo to see how AudioEye can help you build and maintain accessible, compliant digital content. 


Want to see how accessible your current site is? Use our Web Accessibility Scanner to find out.

Ready to see AudioEye in action?

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Ready to test your website for accessibility?

Scan your website now.

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