Business websites like physical businesses must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) so that people with disabilities can use the website and benefit from it just like the general public can. Because of the legal consequences due to non-compliance with ADA accessibility guidelines, developers have written little pieces of software, often called “widgets,” that claim to make non-ADA-compliant websites compliant.
The question becomes, “Can widgets make websites ADA-compliant?” The short answer is No, but some may have their place in a professional compliance evaluation and upgrade of your website.
What is an ADA-Compliance or Accessibility Widget?
Accessibility widgets, also called “overlays,” are small apps that alter a website’s existing code with new changes designed to address ADA accessibility guidelines. The overlay concept attempts to avoid extensive manual rewrites to the website’s HTML code…but overlays have limited capabilities.
Modern websites use a technology called “Cascading Style Sheets” (CSS) to format their content, and so many overlays use CSS to adjust the layout, size, or color of website elements. The overlays help individual users view the page in a format that is best for themselves. For example, they often increase color contrast, make fonts larger, or make links more prominent.
However, CSS can’t adjust most elements of a web page necessary for ADA compliance, such as layout inconsistencies, page structure, and other aspects that obstruct people with disabilities when they try to navigate a website.
Not every accessibility widget works with every website platform. Some widget developers attempt universal compatibility, but most work with specific technologies like WordPress or Shopify. Before picking widgets, you should understand what it can do, what it can’t do, and whether it will work with your platform and underlying technology.
Should You Rely on a Widget to Make Your Site ADA-Compliant?
No, you should not rely entirely on a widget to make your site ADA compliant. Widgets are not silver bullets; reliance on them alone leaves your organization vulnerable to visitor dissatisfaction at best and legal action at worst. Accessibility widgets can be part of a comprehensive solution but should never be used on their own with the expectation that they will instantly make your website fully ADA-compliant.
Color contrast, text size, and readability are essential parts of ADA compliance, which most of these CSS-based tools can fix. However, the current WCAG version 2.2 has nearly 100 requirements, and most are beyond the ability of CSS to resolve.
Are There Issues Accessibility Widgets Cannot Fix?
The majority of compatibility issues are beyond the capabilities of accessibility widgets. For example, overlaying CSS can’t fix the ordering of text and structure of HTML headings (h1, h2, h3,…). Users with disabilities depend on screen readers to inform them about this structure to navigate websites for visually impaired visitors.
Some website functionality can be incredibly challenging for individuals with motor or cognitive/timing disabilities. Tasks like typing, clicking, navigating menus, stopping or starting audio & video, and fine-motor tasks can be frustrating for individuals with motor disabilities. Individuals with cognitive disabilities often struggle with content comprehension when the presentation is complex and sophisticated, or dealing with time-based controls, like automatically scrolling images.
Other kinds of issues that accessibility widgets cannot fix include:
- Creating accurate alternative text for non-text content that describe an image or graphic that screen readers can read. (Note: Some widgets can use AI to create Alt Tags, but they are often inaccurate.)
- Adding text captions to videos describing what the video covers.
- Eliminating keyboard traps.
- Ensuring all menus are entirely navigable with the keyboard.
- Resolving unexpected behaviors caused by code operating in the background.
Can You Make Your Site ADA-Compliant with a Free Widget?
In our experience, you cannot expect a free widget to make your site ADA-compliant because of the inherent limitations in what they can fix.
Can You Make Your Site ADA-Compliant with a Paid Widget?
In our experience, you cannot entirely rely on a paid widget to make your site ADA-compliant, either. That said, at Web Compliance Pro, we use the top-tier premium widget by AccessiBe to do what it can do, and then we manually remediate the website the rest of the way. The result is an excellent balance between accessibility, speed, and cost.
You should never rely on a paid or free widget to make your site compliant on its own. That’s a risk you do not want to take. Instead, make widgets part of a complete solution, which includes automated testing using multiple tools, manual testing, and manual remediation.
Can Some Widgets Make Accessibility Worse?
We’ve seen cases where some widgets make accessibility worse than before installing the widget. These most frequently occur when widget functionality duplicates the accessibility tools that disabled users already have on their devices.
Take screen readers, for example. Some widgets have built-in screen readers, so when a disabled user accesses your site using their own screen reader, they will hear the content spoken simultaneously by both screen readers, making the situation extremely confusing.
Why Not Depend on a Widget to Make Your Site ADA-Compliant?
No single widget can satisfy all of the ADA accessibility requirements. Most address only a tiny fraction of the requirements, leaving your organization at risk of legal action by professional litigants searching the internet for non-compliant websites like yours.
And because of the automated nature of widgets, they cannot look beyond their coded functionality to find other issues.
Assuring ADA compliance requires manual evaluation and user testing to identify all compliance issues. Only after identifying your website’s compliance issues can widgets become part of a comprehensive upgrade effort.
Ongoing Monitoring for Ongoing Compliance
Unfortunately, becoming ADA-compliant and remaining ADA-compliant are two separate things. Because both regulations and websites change, ongoing compliance monitoring ensures your website stays current, which minimizes your legal risks and provides uninterrupted accessibility to disabled visitors.
How Hard is it to Become ADA-Compliant?
The amount and complexity of the remediation effort depend on factors such as the underlying code, the website’s age, structure, and graphics. Newer websites built on modern technology can often achieve ADA compliance by correcting minor issues with a widget and a small amount of manual remediation. However, older websites using outdated code may require a complete rebuild.
Can Widgets Make Websites ADA-Compliant? Not by Themselves.
When used alone, the answer to “Can widgets make websites ADA-compliant?” is an unequivocal “No.” They can be part of a comprehensive solution designed and implemented by experienced compliance professionals like Web Compliance Pro. To get started with making your own site ADA-compliant, request a preliminary assessment.
We look forward to making your website ADA-compliant and keeping it that way.
