The FTC has ordered AI accessibility startup AccessiBe to pay $1 million for misleading ads.
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a fine com. accessiBea startup that claims to make websites more compatible with the screen readers that blind people rely on to access the Internet, in exchange for false advertising and compensation for reviewers without revealing that it sponsored the reviews.
In a proposed order, the FTC would. requires AccessiBe will pay $1 million that can be used to refund the company’s customers, preventing AccessiBe from overestimating the capabilities of its tools. The order would also require AccessiBe to “clearly and conspicuously” highlight relationships with supporters of its services.
“Businesses looking for help creating their websites [accessibility] “Compellers must be able to trust that products do what they are advertised to do,” Samuel Levin, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “Overstating a product’s capabilities without sufficient evidence is deceptive, and the FTC will act to stop it.”
New York-based AccessiBe sells an AI-powered plugin that it says can make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a set of technical standards used to evaluate a website’s accessibility. The company offers its services as a shield against lawsuits for non-compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the federal civil rights law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination.
Founded in 2018 by entrepreneurs Dekel Skoop, Gal Vizel and Shir Ekerling, AccessiBe has raised $58.5 million in venture capital from investors including Los Angeles-based private equity firm K1. At one point, AccessiBe’s clients included Pillsbury, Benadryl, Playmobil, the Los Angeles Lakers, and government agencies such as the Louisiana Department of Health.
But many advocacy groups and customers say AccessiBe products don’t work.
Tools like AccessiBe can prevent screen-reading apps used by blind and low-vision users, which read aloud what’s on websites, from reading pages correctly — and even make some web pages unnavigable. Clients have File a lawsuit against AccessiBe filed a class action lawsuit, alleging that the company’s products failed to make its websites fully compliant with ADA standards.
During its 2021 conference, the National Federation of the Blind called AccessiBe’s marketing and business practices “disrespectful and misleading.” That same year, 400 blind people, accessibility advocates and software developers signed an agreement Open letter Ask companies that use automated services like AccessiBe’s to stop.
In 2021, more than 400 companies that had accessibility widgets or overlays on their websites were sued for accessibility issues. per Digital access provider UsableNet.
AccessiBe isn’t the only vendor selling automated website accessibility tools. But it is He was accused Adopting a “defensive” approach, refusing to deal with the special needs community – and making lofty claims.
According to the FTC, AccessiBe not only failed in its promises to customers, but also engaged in misleading marketing. AccessiBe “deceptively formatted third-party articles and reviews” to appear as if they were the independent opinions of unbiased authors, and failed to disclose “material connections” to supposedly objective reviewers, the agency said in a press release.
The FTC’s order, which was unanimously approved by the FTC’s five commissioners, will be subject to public comment for 30 days, after which the commission will decide to make it final.
