ADAGuard vs accessiBe: Why a Scanner and an Overlay Are Not the Same Thing
Giriprasad Patil·· 6 min read·Comparisons
Two products. Both claim to help you with ADA and WCAG accessibility. Both appear in the same search results. One costs $49/month. One starts at $129/month.
**They are not doing the same thing.**
accessiBe is a JavaScript overlay — one line of code that adds a widget to your site. ADAGuard is an accessibility scanner — a tool that scans your actual code and tells you what's broken and how to fix it.
The difference isn't marketing. It's the difference between treating a symptom and diagnosing the disease. And courts have started to notice.
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## What an Overlay Widget Actually Does
When you install accessiBe, a small script runs on your site. It adds a toolbar icon. When a user clicks it, the overlay attempts to modify the page in real time — adding ARIA attributes, adjusting contrast, enlarging text.
The overlay doesn't change your HTML. It doesn't fix your code. It tries to patch accessibility issues on the fly, in the user's browser, for users who click the widget.
**Here's the problem:** Real accessibility issues are structural. They're in your HTML, your CSS, your JavaScript. A widget layered on top can't reliably fix:
- Missing form labels (the label is absent in the DOM — the overlay guesses at it)
- Broken keyboard navigation (focus order is determined by DOM structure and event handlers)
- Missing alt text on images served from a CMS
- Inaccessible PDFs and documents
- Authenticated app pages that the overlay never loads on
- Dynamic content (React/Vue/Angular components rendered after page load)
> ⚠️ **The NFB position:** The National Federation of the Blind, the largest blindness organization in the US, has explicitly stated that overlay widgets do not make websites accessible. The [Overlay Fact Sheet](https://overlayfactsheet.com), signed by 800+ accessibility specialists, documents cases where overlays *created new barriers* for screen reader users rather than removing them.
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## What the Courts Have Said
The legal record on overlay widgets is not ambiguous.
**Hooters of America v. blind plaintiff (2021):** Hooters installed accessiBe. A blind user sued. The court ruled the overlay did not constitute a valid ADA compliance defense. The case settled.
**Murphy v. Eyebobs (2022):** Another case where an overlay-equipped site was successfully sued. The court found the widget did not resolve the underlying accessibility barriers.
**Established precedent:** Multiple federal courts have now confirmed that installing an overlay widget does not provide legal protection under Title III of the ADA. The product's presence on your site does not equal compliance.
> 🔑 **Key legal point:** ADA liability is determined by whether users with disabilities can actually access your content — not by whether you installed a product that claims to help them.
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## What a Scanner Does Instead
ADAGuard crawls your website using a real Playwright browser. It executes your JavaScript, renders your pages as real users see them, and runs 100+ accessibility checks against the actual rendered DOM.
When it finds an issue, it tells you:
- Exactly which element failed
- Which WCAG criterion it violates (1.1.1, 1.4.3, 2.4.6, etc.)
- The severity (critical, warning, informational)
- Step-by-step fix guidance with before/after code examples
- Estimated fix difficulty and time
You fix the issue in your actual code. It stops being an issue. Permanently — not conditionally depending on whether a user clicks a widget.
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## Feature Comparison
| Feature | ADAGuard Professional | accessiBe |
|---|---|---|
| **Monthly price** | $129 | $49+ |
| **How it works** | Scans real code, finds actual issues | Overlay widget — modifies page appearance in browser |
| **Fixes your code** | ✅ Yes — gives you the fix | ❌ No — patches over issues at render time |
| **Authenticated scanning** | ✅ Scans behind login screens | ❌ No |
| **WCAG 2.1 / 2.2 AA coverage** | ✅ ~74% automated coverage | ❌ Claims compliance, coverage unverified |
| **VPAT / ACR reports** | ✅ Included | ❌ Not available |
| **Compliance certificates** | ✅ Included | ❌ Not available |
| **API access** | ✅ Included | ❌ Not available |
| **White-label reports** | ✅ Included | ❌ Not available |
| **Dynamic JS rendering** | ✅ Playwright-powered | ❌ Static or overlay-only |
| **Court-tested defense** | ✅ Fixing real code is the defense | ❌ Multiple court rulings against overlays |
| **Disability community support** | ✅ Scanner approach endorsed | ❌ 800+ specialists signed petition against overlays |
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## The Price Question
accessiBe is cheaper at $49/month. That's real. But the comparison breaks down when you look at what you're buying.
ADAGuard Professional at $129/month gives you 30 scans/month, 200 pages/scan, API access, VPAT reports, authenticated scanning, white-label reports, and compliance certificates.
accessiBe's $49/month gives you a JavaScript widget.
> 💡 **The real cost comparison:** Traditional enterprise accessibility platforms — Siteimprove, Deque, Level Access — charge $10,000–$30,000+ per year for scanner-level functionality. ADAGuard Professional is $1,548/year. If the question is "scanner vs overlay," the price difference between ADAGuard and the enterprise scanners it competes with is enormous. The comparison with accessiBe is a category mistake — they're not equivalent products at different prices.
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## The Authentic Use Case for Each
**Choose accessiBe if:** You want to add user preference controls (larger text, high contrast mode, reduced motion) as a convenience feature for users who want them. Not as a compliance strategy — but as a UX enhancement. This is the legitimate use of overlay-style tools.
**Choose ADAGuard if:** You need to know what's actually broken on your site, get it fixed, produce documentation of compliance, and have a legal record that you identified and remediated real issues.
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## Who Is ADAGuard For?
**Agencies** managing 3–10 client sites who need white-label reports and compliance certificates to deliver as a service. The Professional plan covers 3 sites; Business covers 10.
**SaaS companies** who need to scan behind login screens — dashboards, settings pages, user flows. No other tool at this price point does this.
**Enterprise procurement** requiring VPATs and ACRs. ADAGuard generates VPAT-format reports that meet procurement requirements.
**Developers** who want actionable fix guidance — not just a list of violations, but the specific code change needed.
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## Share This (Tweet-Ready Lines)
> *"accessiBe adds a JavaScript widget. Courts have ruled that widgets don't constitute ADA compliance. If you're using an overlay as your accessibility strategy, you still have legal exposure."*
> *"The 800+ accessibility specialists who signed the Overlay Fact Sheet aren't anti-technology. They're specialists who've watched overlays actively break screen readers for real users."*
> *"Scanning your public pages while your app dashboard is inaccessible is not compliance. It's a very clean homepage with 47 critical violations behind the login screen."*
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## Related Reading
- [ADA Website Lawsuit: The $50,000 Letter Nobody Sees Coming](/blogs/ada-website-lawsuit-cost)
- [How to Check If Your Website Is ADA Compliant (Step-by-Step)](/blogs/how-to-check-ada-compliance)
- [How to Scan Password-Protected Pages for Accessibility](/blogs/how-to-scan-password-protected-pages)
**External references:**
- [Overlay Fact Sheet — signed by 800+ accessibility specialists](https://overlayfactsheet.com)
- [National Federation of the Blind position on overlays](https://nfb.org)
- [DOJ 2024 Final Rule on Web Accessibility](https://www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/)
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## See What's Actually Wrong With Your Site
An overlay can't tell you what's broken. A scanner can.
**[→ Run a free accessibility scan at adaguard.io](https://adaguard.io)** — See your WCAG violations, severity levels, and exactly how to fix each one. No credit card. Results in under 2 minutes.
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