AccessiBe Lawsuit Claims AI Web Accessibility Software Can’t Ensure ADA Compliance as Advertised

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges accessiBe has falsely advertised its AI-powered overlay products as capable of making a website fully compliant with accessibility standards so as to protect the company’s customers from Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) online accessibility lawsuits.

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The 18-page lawsuit says that in recent years, an increasing number of businesses have faced ADA lawsuits over their alleged failure to ensure that their websites are accessible to people with disabilities. To bring a website into compliance with the ADA and industry-standard Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), experts recommend that site operators primarily use manual methods of testing and remediating underlying code, the filing explains. Many experts maintain that conforming to these standards cannot be achieved on a wholly automated basis, the suit notes.

According to the case, accessiBe has leveraged companies’ fear of litigation and the expensive, time-consuming process of manual website remediation by offering accessWidget and accessFlow, subscription-based software tools that the defendant claims can automatically and cost-effectively cure a website’s accessibility problems within 48 hours. The filing charges that neither tool performs as advertised.

“[accessiBe’s] fundamental claim is that installing its widget will, in and of itself, ensure that a website will meet WCAG recommendations and ADA compliance,” the complaint alleges. “This is simply untrue.”

The suit contends that there are no existing shortcuts to manual remediation that can effectively ensure a website complies with all applicable laws and regulations, and that most website accessibility issues remain unaddressed after accessiBe’s tools are installed.

“At present, practitioners in the field of website accessibility recognize that even the best automated software can only detect 30% of WCAG guidelines and the remaining 70% cannot be assessed—let alone remediated—with artificial intelligence but requires human manual testing,” the lawsuit says.

The filing further claims that accessiBe falsely represents that a business can avoid an ADA lawsuit by using acccessWidget and accessFlow on its website. In fact, a survey of cases filed in 2021 across 10 federal districts shows that at least 91 lawsuits were filed against defendants claiming that they operated an ADA non-compliant website at the same time an accessiBe product was installed, the case says.

The lawsuit goes so far as to argue that businesses are more likely to be sued if they use accessiBe’s products because its widget interferes with accessibility technology tools widely used by people with disabilities to browse the internet.

Per the complaint, the defendant also deceptively promises businesses that it will provide legal support should they get hit with litigation over alleged ADA violations.

“In truth, [accessiBe] provides no substantive legal support,” the filing contends. “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.”

The lawsuit looks to represent any person or entity that purchased a subscription to accessiBe’s accessWidget (formerly known as accessiBe Solution) and/or accessFlow products during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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