What Is accessiBe?
accessiBe is an Israel-based company that offers an AI-powered accessibility overlay widget. You add a JavaScript snippet to your website, and their AI attempts to modify the page to be more accessible for users with disabilities. The widget adds an accessibility menu icon (usually in the corner of the page) that lets users adjust text size, contrast, cursor size, and other settings.
Founded in 2018, accessiBe has raised over $58 million in funding and claims to serve over 200,000 websites. Their marketing positions the product as a comprehensive ADA/WCAG compliance solution that takes minutes to install.
How accessiBe Works
The setup is genuinely simple:
- Add a JavaScript snippet to your website's
<head>tag - accessiBe's AI scans your page and builds an accessibility layer
- The widget appears on your site, offering an accessibility menu to visitors
- Their system re-scans periodically as your content changes
This is where the positive parts of this review mostly end.
What accessiBe Gets Right
- ✓
Dead simple installation
One line of code, no developer needed. For non-technical business owners, this is genuinely appealing.
- ✓
Accessibility awareness
The visible widget signals to visitors that you care about accessibility. Even if the implementation is flawed, the intent matters.
- ✓
User customization options
The widget menu offers useful features like text scaling, high contrast mode, and dyslexia-friendly fonts. Some users genuinely find these helpful.
- ✓
Growing the market
accessiBe has brought web accessibility into mainstream business conversations. More awareness, even imperfect awareness, is better than none.
Where accessiBe Falls Short
- ✗
Doesn't fix underlying code
The overlay adds a JavaScript layer on top of your existing website. Missing alt text, broken ARIA labels, inaccessible forms — these remain in your HTML. If the widget fails to load (network issues, JavaScript blocked, etc.), the site is as inaccessible as ever.
- ✗
Interferes with assistive technology
Multiple screen reader users have reported that accessiBe's overlay conflicts with their existing assistive technology. When you modify the DOM with JavaScript, you can break the very tools disabled users rely on.
- ✗
Compliance claims are overstated
accessiBe markets itself as a path to WCAG 2.1 AA compliance. However, automated tools (including overlays) can only detect about 30-40% of WCAG criteria. The remaining 60-70% require human judgment — something no overlay can provide.
- ✗
No legal protection guarantee
Despite marketing that implies compliance, accessiBe has not prevented ADA lawsuits. Companies using the overlay have still been successfully sued. No overlay vendor can legally guarantee ADA compliance.
- ✗
Creates vendor dependency
Remove accessiBe and your accessibility improvements disappear. Compare this to actually fixing your code — those improvements are permanent and don't depend on a third-party script loading correctly.
The Overlay Controversy
accessiBe's biggest challenge isn't a competitor — it's the accessibility community itself. The criticism has been substantial and well-documented:
- The Overlay Fact Sheet — Over 700 accessibility professionals have signed a public statement opposing overlay widgets, calling them fundamentally flawed.
- National Federation of the Blind — The NFB, the largest US organization of blind people, has publicly criticized accessiBe and asked the company to stop using their name in marketing.
- User reports — Blind users and screen reader experts have published detailed accounts of how accessiBe's overlay interferes with their browsing experience.
- Lawsuits continue — Companies using accessiBe have not been shielded from ADA-related lawsuits, undermining the core value proposition.
To be fair, accessiBe has responded to some criticism and continues to improve their technology. But the fundamental limitation of the overlay approach — adding a layer on top of broken code instead of fixing the code — remains.
accessiBe Pricing (2026)
Small Business
$490/year
Up to 1,000 pages
Medium
$1,490/year
Up to 10,000 pages
Enterprise
Custom
100,000+ pages
Annual billing only. No monthly option available.
For comparison, RatedWithAI starts at $29/month with no annual commitment — that's $348/year for transparent scanning that helps you fix real issues, versus $490/year for an overlay that masks them.
Who Should (and Shouldn't) Use accessiBe
Might work for you if:
- •You have zero technical resources and need something today
- •You view the widget as a stopgap while planning real fixes
- •You understand the limitations and don't expect compliance
Skip it if:
- •You need actual WCAG/ADA compliance
- •You're facing or worried about accessibility lawsuits
- •Your users rely on screen readers
- •You want to genuinely improve your site for disabled users
- •You have even basic development resources
Our Verdict: 2.5/5
accessiBe gets credit for making accessibility a mainstream business conversation and for providing a genuinely simple installation process. But the core product — an overlay widget that claims to solve accessibility — falls short of its promises.
The accessibility community's near-unanimous criticism, combined with ongoing lawsuits against overlay users and documented interference with assistive technology, makes it hard to recommend accessiBe as your primary accessibility strategy.
The better path: Use a transparent scanning tool to identify real issues, fix them at the source, and monitor for regressions. It takes more effort than adding a widget, but the results are genuine, permanent, and actually help disabled users access your content.
Want to see what accessiBe might be hiding?
Run a free RatedWithAI scan to see the real accessibility issues on your site — the ones an overlay can't fix.
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