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Future Imperfect? Evaluating Whether AI-Powered Web Accessibility Overlays are Worth the Hype
Conference proceeding   Open access

Future Imperfect? Evaluating Whether AI-Powered Web Accessibility Overlays are Worth the Hype

Parker Hartman and Tim Gorichanaz
Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, pp 1380-1397
25 Jun 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3805689.3812259
Featured in Collection :   Research Supported by Drexel Libraries' OA Programs
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https://doi.org/10.1145/3805689.3812259View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open Access via Drexel Libraries Read and Publish Program 2026 Open CC BY V4.0

Abstract

Human-centered computing -- Accessibility design and evaluation methods Human-centered computing -- Accessibility systems and tools
This study evaluates the effectiveness of three AI-powered website accessibility overlays. Two websites with different layouts were built and planted with a range of WCAG violations. The sites were then augmented with three different overlays, which were tested through both automated and manual methods on a variety of devices and platforms. The results show that while the overlays were able to correct certain moderate errors with simple solutions (e.g., alt text, form field labeling), numerous severe errors remain, even when overlays report that a page is "100% compliant." Unfortunately, and contrary to the claims of their providers, automated overlays alone cannot mitigate legal risk for inaccessibility; manual human testing and solution development is still needed to address most web accessibility errors. We discuss the implications of this work for the future design and development of overlays and AI-based accessibility tools and connect this work to discourse around AI hype and disability studies.

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