48: The Trouble with Accessibility Overlays

Traditionally, making web sites accessible to all began with coding pages to follow established standards from the W3C. Developers can also go further to support screen reader users, people with low vision, cognitive disabilities, ADHD and more. Now, AI has been applied to this task in the form of server-side software called accessibility overlays. But while these overlays promise turnkey protection from lawsuits, many people with disabilities say they do not deliver accessibility, and sometimes compromise it.

Traditionally, making web sites accessible to all began with coding pages to follow established standards from the W3C. Developers can also go further to support screen reader users, people with low vision, cognitive disabilities, ADHD and more. Now, AI has been applied to this task in the form of server-side software called accessibility overlays. But while these overlays promise turnkey protection from lawsuits, many people with disabilities say they do not deliver accessibility, and sometimes compromise it.

This episode of Parallel is sponsored by:
The Inside Track, from Microsoft: Your one-stop podcast exploring the technology that helps to accelerate the future of the automotive industry.

Guest Starring:

Holly Scott-Gardner

Links and Show Notes: Support Parallel with a Relay FM Membership Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview AccessiBe Accessibility overlay startup accessiBe closes $28M Series A | TechCrunch Holly Scott-Gardner: Do Automated Solutions like #AccessiBe Make the Web More Accessible? - Holly Scott-Gardner #accessiBe - Twitter Search / Twitter Mosen at Large Podcast: Episode 105: The AccessiBe controversy. Can AI make the web fully accessible in a few short years, or might it make matters worse? #accessiBe Will Get You Sued | Adrian Roselli AI for Accessibility Projects - Microsoft AI