A Complete Guide to Accessibility Overlays

Most offices are equipped with vending machines that dispense refreshments with a press of the button. You do not require any culinary skills or time to obtain your choice food or beverage. Although the snack or drink does not entirely satiate your hunger, it can reduce it to a certain extent.

Similarly, it is important to note that accessibility overlays do not render your website completely accessible. However, they do enhance its accessibility from its present state. This blog will shed further light on accessibility overlays.

What Are Accessibility Overlays?

Accessibility overlays are automated software tools that enhance your website’s accessibility by adding code into the site, modifying its appearance and behavior to make it easier for users with disabilities to navigate and interact with the content. Furthermore, they can detect and fix accessibility issues.

Accessibility overlays don’t change a website’s source code. Instead, they detect basic issues like low color contrast or small text and adjust them.

Some common features include:

• Text Resizing: Users can adjust font sizes for better readability.
• Color Contrast Adjustments: Can alter a website’s color scheme for enhanced visibility.
• Assistive technologies Compatibility: Content should be assistive technology-compatible, including keyboard navigation to simplify navigation
• Alternative Text for Images: Generate descriptive text for users with visual impairments.

Here are some popular accessibility overlays tools:

• EqualWeb: It is an all-inclusive tool that includes many features such as text magnification,  and navigation aids.
• ColorVeil: This Chrome extension applies a customizable color filter to websites and documents, helping users with dyslexia, visual stress, and eye strain. Free and easy, it enhances the online reading experience.

Benefits of Accessibility Overlays

Businesses understand the importance of making their websites accessible for legal and ethical reasons. However, many lack the resources or knowledge to do it correctly. As a quick fix to avoid lawsuits, they rely on overlay tools.

Here are some of their key benefits:

1. Real-time management: Accessibility overlays offer developers a cost-effective and time-saving alternative to manual accessibility testing and fixes. These tools continuously scan websites for issues like missing alt text, improper heading structures, and empty links.

2. Quick Implementation: Organizations can add overlays to websites with minimum effort and technical expertise. It lets companies improve accessibility immediately with minimal changes—just by adding a small JavaScript snippet.

3. Cost-Effective: It is often cheaper than manual audits and cleanup. Hiring accessibility specialists or completing thorough audits may be expensive for small and medium-sized enterprises. Overlays are cheaper and enable companies to comply with basic accessibility guidelines immediately.

4. Immediate Impact: Users may instantly benefit since it doesn’t require lengthy development or testing. Overlays also help organizations fulfill basic ADA and WCAG compliance criteria.

5. Increased Awareness: Demonstrates your commitment to accessibility and increases awareness of digital inclusion among employees and stakeholders..

6. User Customization: Many overlays let users personalize their browsing experience to their requirements. Customisation options often boost consumer satisfaction.

Limitations of Accessibility Overlays

However, most accessibility experts say overlays can only detect about 20-30% of issues, meaning most problems go unnoticed and unaddressed.

Here are some of their key disadvantages:

• Provides surface-level fixes, but does not address deeper accessibility issues.
• May not align with user needs or accessibility standards.
• Users may find overlays intrusive or difficult to use.
• Lack of legal protection under accessibility laws.
• Potential performance issues due to slowing or bugging.

Best Practices When Using Accessibility Overlays

When using accessibility overlays, consider the following best practices to maximize their effectiveness:

1. Use it as a Supplement: Use overlays as a supplement, not a replacement, for comprehensive accessibility efforts.
2. Regular Testing: Regularly test your website for accessibility issues and address any problems that overlays miss. Continually assess the effectiveness of the overlay by gathering user feedback and conducting regular audits. This helps identify ongoing issues and areas for improvement.
3. User Feedback: Gather feedback from users with disabilities by including them in testing
4. Document Changes and Improvements: Track overlay changes and user feedback. This will be helpful for future audits and improvements. 

Are Accessibility Overlays Reliable?

While accessibility overlays can provide immediate improvements, they are not a substitute for comprehensive accessibility practices. Overlays should be seen as one part of a larger accessibility strategy that includes:

1. User Testing and Auditing: It is crucial for identifying and addressing potential issues in accessibility. Involving users with disabilities in testing helps uncover real-world challenges and improve the user experience.
2. Continuous Improvement: Accessibility is an ongoing process that requires regular updates and monitoring to stay compliant and user-friendly.

Alternatives to Accessibility Overlays

Although accessibility overlays are very useful to organizations, they do have limitations as demonstrated above.  Here are some alternatives to consider:

Manual Web Accessibility Audit Service

Accessibility experts are trained to identify even the smallest of issues on your websites, therefore conducting a manual audit by them will help you to identify, remediate issues and adhere to the complaint standards like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).

Web Accessibility Improvement Strategies

• Comprehensive Training Programs: Invest in training programs on web accessibility principles.
• User Testing with Diverse Groups: Conduct user testing with diverse groups for feedback on website usability.
• Adoption of Accessible Design Principles: Proactively adopt accessible design principles for better long-term outcomes.
• Continuous Improvement Cycle: Establish a culture of continuous improvement, regularly reviewing practices and seeking feedback from disabled users.

You can also checkout AEL Accessibility Checker. Our free tool is designed to provide a summary with the number of violations found on your web page along with an Accessibility score within 30 seconds. This score will help you gauge the accessibility health of your website. 

Wrapping up

Accessibility overlays help enhance website usability for people with disabilities by offering features like text resizing and color adjustments. However, they only address a fraction (20-30%) of accessibility issues and can pose legal risks if relied on exclusively.

The best approach is to combine overlays with manual audits and ongoing testing. Alternatives like manual audits and the AEL Accessibility Checker offer more thorough solutions. A more effective strategy includes overlays alongside manual reviews, user feedback, training, and continuous improvements to ensure compliance with accessibility standards such as WCAG guidelines and the civil rights law, ADA.