Accessibility Overlays vs. Manual WCAG Audit

An overlay injects a script that adjusts fonts, contrast, or adds a widget menu — but it can't restructure broken HTML, fix missing form labels, add real keyboard navigation to a custom component, or make a screen reader understand a page that was never built with one in mind. Disability advocacy groups and screen-reader users have documented overlays actively breaking sites that were previously navigable. The FTC's January 2025 action against the largest overlay vendor, for a $1 million penalty over claims its AI widget made websites fully compliant, is the clearest signal yet that regulators see the gap between the marketing and the reality.

If you have zero budget and need something today, an overlay is better than nothing for a narrow set of adjustments (font size, basic contrast toggles) — just don't market it as compliance, and don't stop there. For a very small, static site with no forms, checkout, or interactive components, a one-time automated scan plus a few manual fixes may be all you need, without a full paid audit. The honest answer for most commercial sites, though, is that neither of those covers what the EAA actually requires.