Adrian Roselli, pH0“Procès FACILI’iti versus Koena : communiqué”
https://koena.net/communique/ (in French)
This a good distillation of #accessibility #overlays:
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/07/13/its-really-this-thing-that-gets-me/
If they were actually useful, they wouldn’t need to use SLAPPs to silence detractors (#AudioEye, #Faciliti), or see their clients or themselves sued for failing to work (#accessiBe), or regularly misrepresent their relationship with standards bodies (#UserWay)
Scams upon scams.
A couple tweets over on the hell-site this week about #overlays that came my way…
• https://twitter.com/mr_chrishinds/status/1807780708334576015
• https://twitter.com/bethannon/status/1807782839162978470
Neither disclose if the overlay is #accessiBe, #AudioEye, #Faciliti, #UserWay, or one of the others.
Chris Hinds (@mr_chrishinds) on X
I was on a call today with a large multinational eCommerce company. They're paying $50k+ per year for an accessibility overlay. And guess what? They still got sued. Now, they're shifting focus towards early detection, prevention, and better processes. The times are changing. 😎
Oh hey, it’s #GAAD.
Be on the lookout for the (mostly corporate) performative A11yship of #GAAD which is about to fill your timelines.
A couple years ago I demonstrated #overlay companies as the worst offenders:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/05/the-performative-a11yship-of-gaad.html
#accessiBe #AudioEye #FACILiti #LevelAccess #UserWay #accessibility #a11y
The Performative A11yship of #GAAD
For context on the title, working backward from the end, GAAD is Global Accessibility Awareness Day. Its purpose, as explained at accessibility.day, is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access/inclusion and people with different disabilities. A11yship is a play on the numeronym for accessibility (a11y) and the…
Thinking back to that time when WCAG 2.2 first went to review and French #overlay company #FACILiti, best known for its SLAPPs, asked to get a side-door added to WCAG for overlays:
https://www.w3.org/blog/2020/wcag22-wide-review/#comment-83070
“Socks, lies, and accessibility”
https://janmaarten.com/gaad-2023/
Where @janmaarten shows that just a couple days after #accessiBe’s CEO promised to stop being such a lying liarface it went and used sock puppet Twitter accounts to promote its #overlay.
As I keep saying, past behavior is a predictor of future behavior (side-eyes #AudioEye, #UserWay, #FACILiti).
Updated posts to reference the FT #overlay article, all with the same content (so pick your favorite overlay)…
• #UserWay: https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#FT
• #accessiBe: https://adrianroselli.com/2020/06/accessibe-will-get-you-sued.html#Update28
• #AudioEye: https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html#comment-285754
I did not add it to #FACILiti because it is not explicitly named in the post. But they are also terrible and bullies.
Thanks to @tink for first sharing the article.
#UserWay Will Get You Sued
Disclaimer: This post and the headline is my opinion. I provide verifiable facts throughout to inform that opinion. I say this because French overlay vendor FACIL’iti has filed at least two frivolous lawsuits, and given overlay vendors tend to follow the same business practices, it is reasonable to assume UserWay…
Sharing a LinkedIn (ugh) post because it hits at core concerns over the marketing- and revenue-driven models of the (abled) corporate efforts supplanting genuine #accessibility in favor of inadequate tools pitched using FUD, now buying veneers of credibility despite often amoral actions:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7159537701438865408/
By @fedbysandrine
#a11y #overlay #AudioEye #accessiBe #UserWay #FACILiti
Over in the walled-garden A11y Slack, the IAAP rep there has left this statement and said proper statements will be going out on its socials:
https://web-a11y.slack.com/archives/C0382G2EGKH/p1706288656965409
Links in post:
• “webpage” https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/about/governance-and-positions#focus2
• “European Disability Forum” https://www.edf-feph.org/
• “joint statement regarding overlays” https://www.edf-feph.org/publications/joint-statement-on-accessibility-overlays/
Sorry for the wall of text.
#overlay #UserWay #FACILiti #AccessiWay #accessibility #a11y #IAAP
Late to the party because I really needed to think about this.
I *believe* what is happening is IAAP is hosting a session promoting #overlays.
It has 7 dudes on a panel:
• One is from #FACILiti (filed SLAPPs against disabled critics).
• One from #UserWay (known for lifting content, failing at WCAG).
• One from #AccessiWay (was so bad I ignored it).
And then three more I’m disappointed to see aligning themselves with this.
What’s the point of IAAP again?
https://web.archive.org/web/20240126161325/https://zerocon24.zeroproject.org/sessions/c2Vzc2lvbjoxNjMzMDM%3D
[Edited URL]