Accessibility overlays vs real fixes

An accessibility overlay is a script you add to your site that shows a widget — usually a round button with a figure — offering bigger text, more contrast or a "screen reader mode". It is sold as a one-line way to become accessible. It is not one, and it can do harm.

What an overlay does, and what it leaves untouched

An overlay works on top of the page your visitors receive. It can change how the page looks for the person who opens the widget, and some try to repair the page on the fly. But the page itself does not change: a product photo still has no text alternative in your catalogue, a button still has no name in your theme, a form field still has no label.

That matters because the people who need accessibility most already have their own tools. Someone who is blind uses a screen reader; someone with low vision uses their system's zoom or contrast settings. They do not go looking for your widget: they meet your page as it is.

Why automated repairs fall short

• Guesswork. To give an image an alternative or a button a name on the fly, a script has to guess what it means. A wrong guess is worse than nothing: it tells a screen reader user something false, with confidence.
• Conflicts. Overlays add their own controls and change the page while it loads, which can clash with the assistive technology the visitor already uses.
• Hidden problems. The faults are covered, not removed. Nobody in your team learns what is wrong, so the next product page you publish has the same faults.

Regulators have noticed

In January 2025, the US Federal Trade Commission announced an order requiring the overlay vendor accessiBe to pay $1 million, for claiming that its AI widget could make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The order, made final in April 2025, bars the company from making such claims unless it has the evidence to support them.

The European Accessibility Act asks for accessible services, not for a widget. Under it, what is checked is whether people can actually use your shop.

What actually fixes a page

Five common problems and the fix that removes each one

Problem	Real fix
Product photo without a text alternative	Write the alternative in the media library and in the content (RGAA 1.1)
Keyboard focus invisible	A visible focus style in the theme (RGAA 10.7)
No way to skip the menu	A skip link to the main content (RGAA 12.7)
Price with too little contrast	A darker colour in the theme (RGAA 3.2)
Icon link without a name	A text or a label on the link (RGAA 6.2)

Some of these fixes can be applied automatically and safely, because they do not require guessing: adding a skip link, making the focus visible, restoring zoom on phones, declaring the right page language. Others need a person to decide, such as what an image shows. A good tool does the first, and helps you with the second without pretending to do it for you.

That is how Relyo works: it corrects the page itself, tells you about everything it cannot decide, and never claims that its score is a compliance rate.