The accessiBe lawsuit and FTC order, in plain English
If you pay for accessiBe, or someone is pitching it to you, here's what the government and one of its own customers have said about it, and what it means for your website.
This is not legal advice. Due Effort isn't a law firm. If you've been served with court papers, talk to a lawyer about your deadline today.
TL;DR: There are two separate cases. In April 2025 the FTC finalized an order making accessiBe pay $1 million over claims that its accessWidget could make any website compliant with WCAG, the web accessibility guidelines. Separately, a New York medical practice that was sued over its website while running the widget filed a class action against accessiBe in 2024. Neither case protects your site. If you use a widget, check and fix your site's own code.
What did the FTC say accessiBe did?
On January 3, 2025, the FTC announced a proposed order against accessiBe, the company behind the accessWidget plug-in (FTC, January 2025). According to the FTC's complaint:
- accessiBe marketed accessWidget as able to make any website WCAG compliant, and the FTC says those claims were false, misleading or unsupported, because the widget didn't make all its users' sites compliant.
- It made those claims on its own site, on social media and in articles by other people.
- It ran third-party articles and reviews that looked like independent opinions, without saying it had a connection to the people writing them.
On April 22, 2025, the Commission voted 3-0 to make the order final (FTC, April 2025). accessiBe has to pay $1 million, which the FTC can use for refunds. It can't claim its automated products make any website WCAG compliant, or keep it compliant over time, unless it has evidence. It also can't pass off paid reviews as independent ones.
This was a settlement with no admission of wrongdoing. accessiBe agreed to the order and says it disagrees with the FTC's allegations.
What is the accessiBe class action?
In June 2024 a New York City dermatology practice sued accessiBe in federal court in Manhattan: Sherwin K. Parikh MD, P.C. v. accessiBe, Inc., case 1:24-cv-04848 (S.D.N.Y.). According to the complaint, the practice paid for accessWidget, then was itself sued in an ADA class action claiming its website still wasn't accessible. It wants to represent other businesses that bought the widget.
As of October 22, 2026, the public docket shows no final judgment. A complaint is one side's account; nothing in it has been proven yet.
Does this affect me if I use accessiBe?
Not directly. The FTC order is about how accessiBe advertised, and you're not a party to either case. The practical problem is different. A widget loads on top of your pages, but the problems in your site's own code and content are still there. The FTC's complaint said the widget didn't make all its users' sites compliant, and the practice in the class action was sued while running it.
You don't need to rip the widget out today. Start by finding out what's actually wrong underneath it.
What should I do instead?
- Scan your site. A free scan tests a page in a real browser, flags widgets like accessiBe, and lists each problem with who it affects and how to fix it.
- Fix problems at the source. Image descriptions, button labels, form labels and color contrast get fixed in your theme or page builder. Our fix guides cover Shopify, WordPress, Wix and Squarespace.
- Keep dated records. Save a dated report before and after. If a letter arrives, it shows your lawyer what you did and when.
- Update your accessibility statement. Say what you've actually done, not what a vendor promised. Our statement generator keeps it honest.
Scan my site free See the fix guides
Questions people ask
Can I get a refund from accessiBe?
The FTC says the $1 million may be used for consumer refunds. The FTC lists every active refund program on its refunds page. If there is one for accessiBe customers, that's where it will be. Don't pay anyone who contacts you offering to get you a refund.
Will removing the widget get me sued?
Removing it doesn't change the problems in your site's code, and those are what letters point to. Fix those first, then decide about the widget.
Are other accessibility widgets the same?
The FTC order is only about accessiBe. Any widget works the same basic way, loading on top of your site, so the same advice applies: check and fix the site underneath.
I already got a demand letter. What now?
Read what to do in the first 72 hours. If your lawyer needs the facts fast, the Letter Response Kit scans up to 25 pages and seals the results into a dated evidence pack.
Due Effort is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice. Facts about accessiBe come only from FTC releases and public court records, linked above. Automated scans find only some accessibility problems, so a clean scan doesn't mean a site is compliant.