Accessibe laid it on very thick. Website plugins from this company should automatically make any website accessible with just one line of code. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 30 percent of Level AA immediately, the remaining 70 percent within 48 hours, thanks to clever artificial intelligence. Unfortunately, this does not always work in reality, for example, automatic image recognition is incorrect. Accessibe is now worth one million US dollars.
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The failure to deliver on advertising promises brought the US consumer protection agency, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), into action. She has investigated the matter and criticized another element of Accessibe’s business practices: it is said to have misleadingly presented third-party obituaries as independent opinions, without disclosing that the authors and The Israeli-American company has well-known ties.
The FTC and Accessibe are now jointly seeking a court order that Accessibe can no longer make advertising claims unless it has proof of the promised service. Furthermore, it can no longer hide relationships with reviewers or give the impression of their independence. Accessibe also has to transfer one million dollars to the FTC. Any additional violations could result in a fine of up to $51,744.
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The FTC can use this money to reimburse customers who have been defrauded. The plugin is available starting at $49 per month for websites with up to 1,000 pages. Operators of larger sites pay more, for example $349 for 100,000 pages.
Example from the court file: Instead of the correct image description, the Accessib plugin fed a screen reader a salad of characters highlighted in yellow.
(Image: Replica FTC lawsuit)
This is attractive, because accessibility to websites and electronic devices is not only important for search engine optimization, but is also legally mandated. Long in North America, from June 28 in the EU. Then the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which is implemented in Germany through the Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG) and in Austria through the Accessibility Act (BAFG), comes into force. The new civil rights are the result of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which came into force in 2008. Paid warnings will be issued in Germany. Correct implementation requires more than just automated testing routines from an AI plugin, it also requires testing with affected people.
FT Commissioners unanimously approved the negotiated agreement with Accessibe (ref. 222-3156). It is now published in the American Official Gazette; After 30 days of public consultation, the FT Commission will vote on it again.
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