Understanding the Experiences Web Users Have When Encountering Accessibility Overlays

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Date Posted

Research Study Description

Accessibility overlays are an increasingly common website feature intended to improve a website’s accessibility. Some examples of features that accessibility overlays can offer include screen reader functionality, voice navigation, contrast and text colour adjustments, highlighting links, pausing animations, and adjustments to text spacing. AccessiBe, AudioEye, EqualWeb, and UserWay are examples of companies selling accessibility overlays. Companies who purchase accessibility overlays for their website typically do so to meet legal accessibility requirements. However, it is unknown how well these overlays address accessibility for disabled users. We would like to survey website visitors who use accessibility features and/or assistive technology to access the web, and what users’ experience visiting websites known to recently use accessibility overlays. We are interested in understanding the impact that overlays have on the usability, accessibility, and general user experience. We will select 1 individual out of a maximum of 2000 participants to get a $100 cash prize. You will also have the opportunity to provide an email to indicate your interest in participating in a follow-up interview study.

Name of Organization:
Rochester Institute of Technology’s Centre for Accessibility and Inclusion Research Lab (CAIR Lab)

For questions, please email:
[email protected]

Study Link: 
https://cair.rit.edu/