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Migration Guide

Switching from accessiBe to Aegis Firma

accessiBe’s accessWidget is one of the most widely installed accessibility overlays on the web — and in 2025 the FTC ordered the company to pay $1 million for falsely claiming the widget makes any website WCAG-compliant. If you are moving off an overlay-only approach toward actual code-level remediation with an honest paper trail, this guide covers the switch.

Migration time: Under 30 minutes to your first real scan169 jurisdictions covered after switching

Why Teams Leave accessiBe

The FTC found, and accessiBe was ordered to pay $1M over, exactly the claim many buyers installed the widget for: that it makes a site compliant
800+ accessibility professionals have signed the Overlay Fact Sheet rejecting the overlay model — a growing signal that overlays alone do not satisfy WCAG
An overlay does not touch your underlying HTML, so the specific defects the FTC cited (missing alt text, keyboard traps, broken tables) can persist under the widget
Plaintiffs’ firms are increasingly treating visible overlay badges as a target rather than a shield
No incomplete-scan disclosure or documented remediation trail — just a widget running silently

What You Gain with Aegis Firma

A WCAG 2.2 AA scan of your actual rendered HTML — 23 machine-tested A/AA success criteria, not a runtime patch
An honest incomplete-scan banner when a page is too JavaScript-heavy for the static scan to fully cover
A prioritized, lawsuit-risk-ranked fix list your developer can act on — real remediation, not a widget
Free scan with no signup to see your baseline before you commit to anything
Score history, scan diffs, and regression alerts — a documented good-faith trail if you ever need to show one

Before You Start: Export This Data

Export this data from accessiBe before you cancel your account:

  • Your site URL(s) — no account data to migrate, since accessiBe does not fix your source code
  • Any existing VPAT or audit documents you want to keep as historical reference

Step-by-Step Migration Guide

1

Run a free Aegis Firma scan of your site

Go to /tools/ada-accessibility-scan and enter your URL — no signup required. This gives you an independent baseline of what WCAG 2.2 AA violations actually exist on your rendered page, overlay or not.

2

Decide whether to keep or remove the accessiBe widget

Removing it is not required to use Aegis Firma — the scanner reads your rendered page either way. Many teams remove the overlay once code-level fixes are underway, since the widget is no longer doing real work.

3

Sign up and select your ADA plan

Choose ADA Starter ($79/mo, 1 site, weekly scans), Pro ($199/mo, 5 sites, daily scans), or Unlimited ($399/mo, unlimited sites, real-time) based on how many sites you monitor.

4

Work the prioritized fix list

Every violation is ranked by lawsuit-risk weight and comes with plain-English fix instructions your developer can implement directly in your code.

5

Turn on scheduled re-scans and regression alerts

Weekly (Starter) or daily (Pro/Unlimited) scans catch new violations the next deploy introduces, before a demand letter does.

6

Generate your VPAT/ACR

Available from the Pro tier — produces the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template document enterprise and government buyers request.

Ready to switch?

Start your free Aegis Firma account. No credit card. No sales call. Live in 30 minutes.

Start free

From $79/month · 169 jurisdictions · Cancel anytime

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to remove the accessiBe widget before switching?

No. Aegis Firma scans your site’s rendered HTML independent of any overlay running on it. You can run a scan with the widget still installed to see what it does and does not fix, then decide when to remove it.

Will removing the overlay make my site less accessible in the meantime?

An overlay provides some real accommodations for some users (font resizing, contrast toggles) alongside features accessibility experts contest. If you remove it, prioritize fixing the code-level issues the Aegis Firma scan surfaces first — that is the durable fix either way.

What happened with the FTC and accessiBe, exactly?

In January 2025 the FTC filed a complaint alleging accessiBe falsely claimed its accessWidget made any website WCAG-compliant, and separately that the company deceptively presented paid, non-independent reviews as impartial. The FTC finalized a $1 million order in April 2025, in effect for 20 years with annual compliance reporting requirements.

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