The accessiBe FTC order and EAA fines: what an overlay costs you
In January 2025 the US Federal Trade Commission announced an order that accessiBe agreed to. The company, which sells an AI accessibility widget, must pay $1 million and stop claiming that its automated product can make any website WCAG-compliant unless it has evidence. The FTC finalised the order in April 2025.
If you run a website that falls under the European Accessibility Act (EAA), the order matters for a practical reason. It is a regulator's finding about what the overlay sales pitch could not support. The EAA fines, meanwhile, land on the business that offers the service, not on the vendor of the widget.
This article sets out what the order says, what it does not say, and what national EAA fines look like in two member states: Romania and Germany.
What the FTC order says
The facts below come from the FTC's own press release of 3 January 2025.
| Point | What the FTC said | |-------|-------------------| | Allegation | Claims that accessiBe's AI tool could make any website WCAG-compliant were false, misleading or unsubstantiated, because the tool did not make all user websites compliant | | Payment | accessiBe pays the FTC $1 million, which may be used to provide refunds to consumers | | Compliance claims | accessiBe may not claim its automated products make a website WCAG-compliant, or keep it compliant over time, without evidence to support the claim | | Reviews and endorsements | The FTC alleged that paid third-party articles and reviews were presented as independent opinions. accessiBe must disclose material connections to endorsers | | Commission vote | 5-0 to accept the proposed consent order |
Source: FTC press release, January 2025.
What the order does not say
Be precise here, because overlay vendors and their critics both stretch this story.
- It is a US consumer-protection order about marketing claims. It is not a court ruling that every overlay fails, and it does not set a technical standard.
- It does not fine accessiBe's customers. No customer is penalised by this order.
- It has no force in the EU. The EAA is enforced by national authorities under national law.
What it does give you is a documented regulatory position: a vendor needed evidence before telling buyers its product delivers WCAG compliance, and the FTC concluded the claims did not have it. If your procurement or legal team relied on that kind of claim, you now have a reason to ask for the evidence.
Why this matters for the EAA
The EAA applies to a defined list of consumer products and services, including e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books and passenger transport ticketing. Most member states have applied their national laws since 28 June 2025. For websites and apps in scope, the working technical benchmark is EN 301 549, which for web content points to WCAG 2.1 AA.
An overlay changes how a page looks and behaves in the browser after it loads. It does not change the underlying HTML, and an enforcement authority assessing a service looks at the service. Our analysis of overlay limitations covers the technical reasons in detail. The legal point is simpler: installing a widget is not evidence that the service meets the requirement.
What EAA fines look like: Romania and Germany
Penalties are set nationally, so the same breach costs different amounts in different countries. We have confirmed the figures below against the national texts for the two countries we cover here. We have not included other countries because we have not verified their penalty schedules.
Romania
Romania transposed the EAA through Law 232/2022. Article 27 lists the contraventions and fines in lei. For service providers the relevant lines are:
| Breach | Article | Fine | |--------|---------|------| | Not designing and providing services in line with the accessibility requirements | Art. 13(1) | 6,000 to 12,000 lei | | Not preparing and publishing the required accessibility information | Art. 13(2)(a)-(d) | 7,000 to 15,000 lei | | Not keeping procedures that keep the service compliant | Art. 13(3) | 6,000 to 12,000 lei | | Not notifying authorities of non-compliance and taking corrective measures | Art. 13(2)(e) | 7,000 to 15,000 lei | | Not providing information to authorities or cooperating with them | Art. 13(2)(f)-(g) | 5,000 to 10,000 lei |
Beyond the fine, Article 27 lets the enforcing officer propose complementary measures, including suspending the operator's activity. Enforcement is split by sector: for example ANPC (consumer protection) for e-commerce, ANCOM for electronic communications, and the Authority for the Digitalisation of Romania for other digital services.
Source: Law 232/2022, Article 27 (Monitorul Oficial 743/2022).
Germany
Germany applies the EAA through the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG). Section 37 sets two tiers of administrative fine:
- Up to 100,000 euro for the more serious breaches, which include offering or providing services that do not meet the accessibility requirements.
- Up to 10,000 euro for the remaining breaches, such as incomplete or late information duties.
Source: § 37 BFSG, Bußgeldvorschriften. These are upper limits, not fixed amounts. We are not aware of publicly documented individual fines yet, so treat the figures as the exposure the law creates, not as what businesses have actually paid.
The microenterprise caveat
Both laws exempt some small businesses, and this changes the picture for many readers.
- The EAA exempts microenterprises that provide services from the service accessibility requirements. A microenterprise is generally a business with fewer than 10 employees and either annual turnover or balance sheet total of up to 2 million euro.
- The exemption covers services only. A microenterprise that makes, imports or distributes products in scope is still bound.
- In Romania the exemption is in Article 4(5) of Law 232/2022. In Germany it is in § 3 BFSG, with the definition in § 2.
If you are a larger business, or you sell products as well as services, the exemption does not help you. If you think you qualify, check the definition against your own headcount and finances with a lawyer before relying on it.
A simple way to compare the costs
We are deliberately not publishing a made-up return on investment figure. You can do this comparison yourself with numbers you can verify.
- Overlay subscription. Add up the yearly licence cost. It buys a widget, not a conformance result.
- Exposure. Take the fine range for your country from the tables above, then add the cost of an authority ordering corrections, and the lost sales from users who cannot complete a purchase.
- Remediation. Get a scoped quote for fixing the real defects found by a journey-based audit: checkout, login, forms, account pages.
The first line is the only one that is predictable, and it is also the only one that does not change the exposure in line two. Remediation is the line that does.
What to do instead
- Ask any vendor for evidence. If a product claims WCAG conformance, ask for test results on your own pages, not a general statement.
- Test the journeys that matter. Run keyboard-only and screen reader checks on the paths a customer uses to buy or sign up. Auditi is built around this journey-based method.
- Publish an accessibility statement if your country requires one. In Romania, failing to prepare and publish the required information is its own line in the fine schedule.
- Fix the source code. Remediation in the templates and components is what an authority and a screen reader user both see.
- Keep records. Dated test results show an authority that you monitor compliance.
If your team has no in-house testers, BetterQA provides software testing services including accessibility testing.
Frequently asked questions
Did the FTC fine accessiBe's customers?
No. The order is against accessiBe, over its own marketing claims. Customers are not penalised by it.
Does the FTC order apply in the EU?
No. It is a US order. EAA penalties are decided by national authorities under national law.
Does an overlay make a site EAA compliant?
Installing an overlay is not evidence of compliance. The benchmark is the accessibility of the service itself, and the FTC found that accessiBe's claims of automatic WCAG compliance were unsupported.
How much is the fine for an inaccessible service in Romania?
Under Article 27 of Law 232/2022, failing to design and provide a service in line with the requirements (Art. 13(1)) carries a fine of 6,000 to 12,000 lei. Other service-provider breaches range from 5,000 to 15,000 lei.
How much is the fine in Germany?
Up to 100,000 euro for offering a service that does not meet the requirements, and up to 10,000 euro for lesser breaches, under § 37 BFSG.
Is my small business exempt?
Microenterprises that provide services (fewer than 10 employees and turnover or balance sheet total of up to 2 million euro) are exempt from the service requirements. The exemption does not cover products. Confirm your status before relying on it.
Conclusion
The FTC order did not prove that overlays can never help a user. It established that one vendor could not support its claim of automatic WCAG compliance. The EAA fines in Romania and Germany fall on the business that offers the service, so the compliance claim in a sales page is not something you can hand off. Test your own journeys, fix what you find, and keep the evidence.
Built by BetterQA, a software testing company.