#userway — Public Fediverse posts

Specifically #AudioEye (best known for SLAPP suits versus useful tooling) and #UserWay (best known for destroying the Level Access brand). Anyway, utter disappointment to see #CSUNATC giving them a platform.

Refs:
• https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html
• https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Specifically #AudioEye (best known for SLAPP suits versus useful tooling) and #UserWay (best known for destroying the Level Access brand). Anyway, utter disappointment to see #CSUNATC giving them a platform.

Refs:
• https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html
• https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Specifically #AudioEye (best known for SLAPP suits versus useful tooling) and #UserWay (best known for destroying the Level Access brand). Anyway, utter disappointment to see #CSUNATC giving them a platform.

Refs:
• https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html
• https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Specifically #AudioEye (best known for SLAPP suits versus useful tooling) and #UserWay (best known for destroying the Level Access brand). Anyway, utter disappointment to see #CSUNATC giving them a platform.

Refs:
• https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html
• https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Specifically #AudioEye (best known for SLAPP suits versus useful tooling) and #UserWay (best known for destroying the Level Access brand). Anyway, utter disappointment to see #CSUNATC giving them a platform.

Refs:
• https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html
• https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

If you’re new to, um, me, then I have info on both overlay vendors:

#AudioEye:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html

#UserWay:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

And because there is a session on the Overlay Community Group:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html

Driven by those two #overlay vendors.

If you’re new to, um, me, then I have info on both overlay vendors:

#AudioEye:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html

#UserWay:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

And because there is a session on the Overlay Community Group:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html

Driven by those two #overlay vendors.

If you’re new to, um, me, then I have info on both overlay vendors:

#AudioEye:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html

#UserWay:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

And because there is a session on the Overlay Community Group:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html

Driven by those two #overlay vendors.

If you’re new to, um, me, then I have info on both overlay vendors:

#AudioEye:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html

#UserWay:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

And because there is a session on the Overlay Community Group:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html

Driven by those two #overlay vendors.

If you’re new to, um, me, then I have info on both overlay vendors:

#AudioEye:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html

#UserWay:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html

And because there is a session on the Overlay Community Group:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html

Driven by those two #overlay vendors.

@ppatel @aardrian I sure hope so... Right now I'm dealing with a health provider that's confused to learn they're not accessible despite paying for #UserWay... This isn't even just about #accessibility it is a straight up fraud case!

From @LFLegal, a magistrate just has recommended the suit against UserWay (Level Access) from BloomsyBox move forward.

BloomsyBox sued UserWay for violation of the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.

More info and links to recommendation:
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/02/userway-overlay-lawsuit/#article-updates

#overlays #UserWay #LevelAccess

From @LFLegal, a magistrate just has recommended the suit against UserWay (Level Access) from BloomsyBox move forward.

BloomsyBox sued UserWay for violation of the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.

More info and links to recommendation:
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/02/userway-overlay-lawsuit/#article-updates

#overlays #UserWay #LevelAccess

From @LFLegal, a magistrate just has recommended the suit against UserWay (Level Access) from BloomsyBox move forward.

BloomsyBox sued UserWay for violation of the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.

More info and links to recommendation:
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/02/userway-overlay-lawsuit/#article-updates

#overlays #UserWay #LevelAccess

From @LFLegal, a magistrate just has recommended the suit against UserWay (Level Access) from BloomsyBox move forward.

BloomsyBox sued UserWay for violation of the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.

More info and links to recommendation:
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/02/userway-overlay-lawsuit/#article-updates

#overlays #UserWay #LevelAccess

From @LFLegal, a magistrate just has recommended the suit against UserWay (Level Access) from BloomsyBox move forward.

BloomsyBox sued UserWay for violation of the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act.

More info and links to recommendation:
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/02/userway-overlay-lawsuit/#article-updates

#overlays #UserWay #LevelAccess

Reminded someone that not only did #accessiBe’s overlay not help a site, it may have been a factor in the lawsuit against that site (PDF):
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.pawd.316620

Paragraph 45 also takes a shot at #UserWay and #AudioEye.

Docket:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/56797092/MONTANO_et_al_v_RESTAURANT_EQUIPPERS,_INC

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Reminded someone that not only did #accessiBe’s overlay not help a site, it may have been a factor in the lawsuit against that site (PDF):
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.pawd.316620

Paragraph 45 also takes a shot at #UserWay and #AudioEye.

Docket:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/56797092/MONTANO_et_al_v_RESTAURANT_EQUIPPERS,_INC

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Reminded someone that not only did #accessiBe’s overlay not help a site, it may have been a factor in the lawsuit against that site (PDF):
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.pawd.316620

Paragraph 45 also takes a shot at #UserWay and #AudioEye.

Docket:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/56797092/MONTANO_et_al_v_RESTAURANT_EQUIPPERS,_INC

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Reminded someone that not only did #accessiBe’s overlay not help a site, it may have been a factor in the lawsuit against that site (PDF):
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.pawd.316620

Paragraph 45 also takes a shot at #UserWay and #AudioEye.

Docket:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/56797092/MONTANO_et_al_v_RESTAURANT_EQUIPPERS,_INC

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

Reminded someone that not only did #accessiBe’s overlay not help a site, it may have been a factor in the lawsuit against that site (PDF):
https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.pawd.316620

Paragraph 45 also takes a shot at #UserWay and #AudioEye.

Docket:
https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/56797092/MONTANO_et_al_v_RESTAURANT_EQUIPPERS,_INC

#accessibility #overlays #a11y

But back to Michael's effort — it seems to validate things have not improved nearly two years after #UserWay / #LevelAccess had that hilarious failure with LLM-generated “accessible” code supposedly trained on its own stuff.

Ref: http://FuxMyCode.ai/

From @LFLegal:

New on LFLegal: Another small business filed a federal class action lawsuit against a web #accessibility #overlay company. Why was UserWay sued? It believed the hype, licensed the software, and still got sued by a #blind person who couldn't use the site. #disability
https://www.lflegal.com/2025/02/userway-overlay-lawsuit/

From me: #LevelAccess is #UserWay now, remember that.

Hey, I finally got access to the class action suit against #UserWay (LevelAccess) filed in July:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#ClassAction

Untagged PDF, sorry.

This covers UserWay making misleading claims about what its #overlay could do.

#accessibility #a11y

#CSUNATC #overlay mini recap:

1. This talk: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17kTEwIRfHDtygt4iw71dTRXIJ4rLCDOUPC3vL-SUGcs/edit#slide=id.g2c0e9fc6f1c_1_19
2. Much of this: https://visperoinc.sharepoint.com/:p:/s/TPGiPermalinks/Ec9QVzJwd1NLkuEKcrVz4ksBzc82HdaC1P7BFEKj0UiYFQ?rtime=q1uZBSdN3Eg
3. A bit of this: https://webaccessibilitysurvey.com/wp-content/uploads/CSUN-Web-Survey-Findings-from-Online-Disability-Communities-2024.pptx
4. Suspicious missing #AudioEye session (with #GAAD co-founder): https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html#comment-284421
5. *Everyone* congratulating me about #AudioEye.
6. People correctly referring to #LevelAccess as an overlay vendor.
7. Folks frustrated Level Access framing its #UserWay buyout as a balm to burn-out.
8. Attached stickers (from @lloydi & Silktide).

@aardrian I just saw a website with #UserWay and was at first swayed by the bells and whistles of it all... but this gives me some thought... and pause.

See "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)"

#Blogging #WordPress #Plugins #WCAG
#ADA #Disabilities #Accessibility #AccessibilityOverlay #overlay #AmericansWithDisabilities #TheBarriersWeFace

This a good distillation of #accessibility #overlays:
https://chriscoyier.net/2024/07/13/its-really-this-thing-that-gets-me/

If they were actually useful, they wouldn’t need to use SLAPPs to silence detractors (#AudioEye, #Faciliti), or see their clients or themselves sued for failing to work (#accessiBe), or regularly misrepresent their relationship with standards bodies (#UserWay)

Scams upon scams.

#a11y

A couple tweets over on the hell-site this week about #overlays that came my way…

• https://twitter.com/mr_chrishinds/status/1807780708334576015
• https://twitter.com/bethannon/status/1807782839162978470

Neither disclose if the overlay is #accessiBe, #AudioEye, #Faciliti, #UserWay, or one of the others.

Oh hey, it’s #GAAD.

Be on the lookout for the (mostly corporate) performative A11yship of #GAAD which is about to fill your timelines.

A couple years ago I demonstrated #overlay companies as the worst offenders:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/05/the-performative-a11yship-of-gaad.html

#accessiBe #AudioEye #FACILiti #LevelAccess #UserWay #accessibility #a11y

“Socks, lies, and accessibility”
https://janmaarten.com/gaad-2023/

Where @janmaarten shows that just a couple days after #accessiBe’s CEO promised to stop being such a lying liarface it went and used sock puppet Twitter accounts to promote its #overlay.

As I keep saying, past behavior is a predictor of future behavior (side-eyes #AudioEye, #UserWay, #FACILiti).

#a11y #accessibility

I know many folks are aware of the class action against #accessiBe:
https://adrianroselli.com/2020/06/accessibe-will-get-you-sued.html#Sherwin

You may be unaware of a class action against #UserWay:
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/delaware/dedce/1:2024cv00844/86407

If not, anyone have access to a (tagged) PDF of the complaint?

#overlays #accessibility

Irony.

It's unfortunate when good messages are undercut (while also validated in this case?) because the site hosting them uses an #accessibility #overlay. In this case, #UserWay by #LevelAccess.

Edited to add link to valuable article: https://www.c-q-l.org/resources/articles/many-disability-professionals-dont-understand-ableism/

WCAG•com has bad/wrong info, eg. button:
https://web.archive.org/web/20240205183643/https://wcag.com/resource/wcag-com-glossary/#:~:text=Button%3A%20An%20element%20that%20links%20to%20website%20pages

It was made by Essential Accessibility, bought by Level Access, which now owns #overlay company #UserWay. Oddly, it obfuscates ownership.

The lack of transparency was raised 7 months ago to the Level Access CMO (A11y Slack walled garden), but no action taken:
https://web-a11y.slack.com/archives/C042TSFGQ/p1694532965936799?thread_ts=1694531619.062759&cid=C042TSFGQ

And so bad info persists and the lack of branding is an accidental “win” for Level Access.

Either way, maybe block at firewall.

I memorialized this in my post tracking #UserWay / #LevelAccess bad behavior:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#FakeForbes

Broader reach and easier than finding this thread.

#accessibility #a11y

I have updated three posts on my site with this info (mostly the same content, tweaked for each post):

• “#UserWay Will Get You Sued”
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#CGDoJ

• “ADA Web Site Compliance Still Not a Thing”
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/03/ada-web-site-compliance-still-not-a-thing.html#Update09

• “‘Accessibility at the Edge’ W3C CG Is an Overlay Smoke Screen”
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html#Update05

Misrepresentation and misuse of the W3C brand and its employee / contractor relationships is the UserWay (now #LevelAccess) norm.

#overlay #accessibility #a11y

Consider when reading obvious puff pieces like this one:

“How Level Access Acquiring UserWay Transforms The Web Accessibility Market”
https://web.archive.org/web/20240409112122/https://www.forbes.com/sites/gusalexiou/2024/04/09/how-level-access-acquiring-userway-transforms-the-web-accessibility-market/

Signs this is astroturfing:

• Claims it is ‘AI’ (it never was, & UserWay’s first LLM effort is still a gag),
• effusive positive terms to describe it and #LevelAccess,
• ignores heaps of (real) press critical of UserWay,
• no other sources,
• #UserWay has a history of doing this (see its overlay Community Group).

#accessibility #a11y

The #UserWay / #AudioEye CG has continually misrepresented its relationship with the W3C, which I have documented:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html

The CG head doesn’t seem to think there is anything wrong with this behavior. I am of the opinion this behavior violates the @w3c CG rules (on a plane so cannot look it up easily).

So now an #overlay BS document is referenced in a DoJ document.

Yeah, I may be angry.

Updated posts to reference the FT #overlay article, all with the same content (so pick your favorite overlay)…

• #UserWay: https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#FT

• #accessiBe: https://adrianroselli.com/2020/06/accessibe-will-get-you-sued.html#Update28

• #AudioEye: https://adrianroselli.com/2023/02/audioeye-will-get-you-sued.html#comment-285754

I did not add it to #FACILiti because it is not explicitly named in the post. But they are also terrible and bullies.

Thanks to @tink for first sharing the article.

#accessibility #a11y

FT article that references #AudioEye, #accessiBe, #UserWay (#LevelAccess), and #EqualWeb along with #overlays in general:
https://front-end.social/@tink/112228546128718031

Non-paywall link:
https://archive.is/MRhll

While it mischaracterizes the crappy algorithms as ‘AI’, the output is still shitty for users regardless of branding.

#accessibility #a11y

@koos It’s an #overlay. It may not lie as openly as #UserWay (#LevelAccess) or #accessiBe, and it may not file frivolous lawsuits like #AudioEye, but Eye-Able introduces WCAG violations and does not fix much. You can read the discussion around trying to get itself delisted from the Overlay Fact Sheet a few months ago:
https://github.com/karlgroves/overlayfactsheet/issues/1086

FWIW, most overlay companies also do manual work. But Eye-Able’s own errors demonstrate it likely isn’t good at that either.

#accessibility #a11y

"this is another example of bullshit accessibility, profit driven products, fueled by private equity companies" 😢 https://html5accessibility.com/stuff/2024/03/03/accessibility-darkness-2/ #a11y #UserWay #overlays #fail

Steve shows a #UserWay bug I pointed out to UserWay (acknowledged by its CTO in person) still exists:
https://mastodon.social/@SteveFaulkner/112033393638360444

My 2021 report:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#WCAGfails

The UserWay CTO claimed “they” fixed it — “they” being the UserWay customer by firing UserWay and removing the #overlay.

#a11y #accessibility

[3/3]

Aaron’s is a less acerbic and more hopeful version of my binary “No, ‘AI’ Will Not Fix Accessibility”:
https://adrianroselli.com/2023/06/no-ai-will-not-fix-accessibility.html

Léonie’s confirms that #UserWay / #LevelAccess has trained its LLM on its own broken code and has not improved since I called it out 8 months ago:
https://adrianroselli.com/2021/09/userway-will-get-you-sued.html#MoreFakeAI

The point is, these are fallible tools that can be helpful with the right existing knowledge or in absence of anything else.

#accessibility #a11y

Sharing a LinkedIn (ugh) post because it hits at core concerns over the marketing- and revenue-driven models of the (abled) corporate efforts supplanting genuine #accessibility in favor of inadequate tools pitched using FUD, now buying veneers of credibility despite often amoral actions:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7159537701438865408/

By @fedbysandrine
#a11y #overlay #AudioEye #accessiBe #UserWay #FACILiti

Over in the walled-garden A11y Slack, the IAAP rep there has left this statement and said proper statements will be going out on its socials:
https://web-a11y.slack.com/archives/C0382G2EGKH/p1706288656965409

Links in post:
• “webpage” https://www.accessibilityassociation.org/s/about/governance-and-positions#focus2
• “European Disability Forum” https://www.edf-feph.org/
• “joint statement regarding overlays” https://www.edf-feph.org/publications/joint-statement-on-accessibility-overlays/

Sorry for the wall of text.

#overlay #UserWay #FACILiti #AccessiWay #accessibility #a11y #IAAP

Late to the party because I really needed to think about this.

I *believe* what is happening is IAAP is hosting a session promoting #overlays.

It has 7 dudes on a panel:

• One is from #FACILiti (filed SLAPPs against disabled critics).
• One from #UserWay (known for lifting content, failing at WCAG).
• One from #AccessiWay (was so bad I ignored it).

And then three more I’m disappointed to see aligning themselves with this.

What’s the point of IAAP again?

https://web.archive.org/web/20240126161325/https://zerocon24.zeroproject.org/sessions/c2Vzc2lvbjoxNjMzMDM%3D
[Edited URL]

Remember that SLAPP #AudioEye filed against me?

The Accessibility Craft podcast covers it in its first episode discussing overlays:
https://accessibilitycraft.com/a-long-overdue-discussion-on-accessibility-overlays-paperback-capiche/

Also touches on #LevelAccess becoming an #overlay vendor with its acquisition of (the amoral, IMO) #UserWay.

I can neither confirm nor deny Amber’s assertion about who “won” that SLAPP, BTW. The settlement agreement precludes me speaking about it.

41 positive responses to my comment on the #LevelAccess CEO statement on the #UserWay purchase:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7147128447151013888?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28ugcPost%3A7147128447151013888%2C7147955973423321090%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287147955973423321090%2Curn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7147128447151013888%29

The Level Access CEO has not responded — and I did not ask a question, so that is fine. But after a handful of initial replies, he has stopped responding.

I assume lawyers suggested he not comment further.

Which also suggests Level Access has decided to end its dialog with the #accessibility industry and community.

Pat notes that if #LevelAccess successfully fixes #accessibility issues at the source for #UserWay customers, then the #overlay product will no longer have its claimed value (other than offering crappy versions of features already built into browsers).

Which suggests #LevelAccess is financially motivated not to kill the monthly revenue streams it just paid $100 million to acquire.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:ugcPost:7147128447151013888?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28ugcPost%3A7147128447151013888%2C7149347708594503681%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287149347708594503681%2Curn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7147128447151013888%29

Utter horseshit framing from #UserWay (now #LevelAccess):

“[‘Accessibility at the Edge’ Community Group] is where W3C is developing, identifying, and categorizing existing and prospective features relating to edge computing technologies in the realm of internet accessibility, including the role of overlays.”

No, @w3c is not doing that. You and #overlay shills are.

Remember, W3C Community Groups do not speak for W3C, and this one in particular is a smokescreen:
https://adrianroselli.com/2022/09/accessibility-at-the-edge-w3c-cg-is-an-overlay-smoke-screen.html