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AudioEye vs accessiBe: how the two overlays compare
If you are weighing AudioEye against accessiBe, the honest starting point is that they are the same kind of product: a JavaScript accessibility overlay that loads on your site and patches the rendered page at runtime. They differ in how they wrap that core - AudioEye adds a human-auditor layer and calls it "hybrid," accessiBe leads with automation - and in their public track records. This page compares them fairly on what is verifiable, then makes the case that for many site owners a one-time audit beats renting either widget.
Short answer: both AudioEye and accessiBe install a JavaScript widget that modifies your page at load time without changing the underlying code, and both are recurring annual subscriptions. AudioEye positions itself as the premium "AI plus human auditors" option; accessiBe leads with its AI accessWidget and, in April 2025, settled with the FTC for $1 million over its compliance marketing. Neither one fixes your code, and neither, on its own, has stopped sites from being named in ADA lawsuits. Site Brace is the other path: a one-time $149 audit that tells you what to fix in the code, with no widget on your site.
What each one is
accessiBe sells accessWidget, an AI-driven overlay. You add one line of JavaScript, and the widget injects itself into the page, tries to detect issues (missing alt text, low contrast, missing form labels), and patches them in the rendered DOM at runtime. It also adds a floating menu where visitors can toggle contrast, text size, and other adjustments. In April 2025 the FTC finalized a $1 million order barring accessiBe from claiming the product can make any website WCAG-compliant without evidence.
AudioEye installs the same kind of JavaScript overlay, then layers periodic human-auditor review and remediation guidance on top, which it markets as a "hybrid" model. The human layer is a real difference from pure automation. AudioEye is also known in the accessibility community for having sued consultant Adrian Roselli over his public criticism of overlays; the company dropped the suit in January 2024, the settlement characterized Roselli's statements as opinion rather than fact, and AudioEye agreed to contribute at least $10,000 to the National Federation of the Blind.
AudioEye vs accessiBe vs an audit, head to head
| Feature | AudioEye | accessiBe | Site Brace |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approach | Hybrid: JavaScript overlay widget + periodic human-auditor review | AI overlay: the accessWidget JavaScript widget patches the DOM at runtime | Audit: a report of the WCAG issues in your code, no widget on your site |
| Pricing model | Annual subscription, positioned as the premium tier, recurring | Annual subscription, recurring | $149 one-time for the audit; optional Watch / Watch Pro monitoring |
| Auto-renews | Yes | Yes | No |
| Puts a widget on your site | Yes | Yes | No |
| Changes your actual code | No (runtime patch; human-suggested fixes delivered separately) | No (runtime patch only) | No directly - it tells you exactly what to fix; you or your developer apply it |
| Notable public track record | Sued an accessibility expert over overlay criticism; dropped the suit in 2024 | FTC $1 million final order, April 2025, over its WCAG-compliance claims | None; we have never claimed our product makes a site "ADA-compliant" |
| Visitor adjustment menu | Yes | Yes | No (not an overlay) |
| What you receive | Widget + portal + periodic auditor reports + the adjustment menu | Widget + the visitor adjustment menu | An HTML report of every WCAG 2.1 AA violation found, with criterion, severity, and a copy-paste fix prompt per issue |
| Best for | Buyers who want a managed-service model and accept the overlay trade-offs | Site owners with no developer who accept the trade-offs | Anyone who wants the code actually fixed, one-time pricing, and a report they can hand to counsel or procurement |
On pricing: both AudioEye and accessiBe are annual subscriptions you keep paying, with AudioEye generally positioned as the higher-priced, human-augmented tier. We are deliberately not quoting their exact figures here, because overlay pricing changes and is often quote-based; check each vendor's site for current numbers. The structural point holds regardless of the exact prices: they recur every year, and a Site Brace audit is paid once.
The thing both overlays share
The differences above are real, but they sit on top of an identical foundation, and the foundation is where the limits live. An overlay loads after your page does and patches the rendered DOM; it does not change the HTML, ARIA, or content underneath. If a visitor is on a slow connection, has JavaScript disabled, or runs a content blocker, the widget may never load and they get the original, unpatched page. Many screen-reader users report that overlays make things worse, not better - confused labels, hijacked focus, links announced twice; the case against the category, with citations, is collected at overlayfactsheet.com, signed by hundreds of accessibility professionals. And sites running either overlay have still been named in ADA Title III lawsuits, because the complaint is filed against the site, not the widget. AudioEye's human-review layer adds context that pure automation lacks, but it does not remove the overlay or its limits; it sits above them.
Why an audit beats either one for many sites
If your goal is for the site to actually be accessible - not to display a widget that says so - the work has to happen in the code. That is what an audit gives you: a list of the real WCAG 2.1 Level AA violations on your pages, each tagged with the criterion, the severity, and a plain-English explanation, plus a copy-paste prompt you (or Claude or GPT) can use to generate the fix for your stack. The fixes go into your templates, so they hold for every visitor on every connection, with or without JavaScript, and they survive whether or not you keep paying anyone.
Site Brace runs that audit on up to 25 pages of your real site for $149, one time, with 12 re-scans included over the next 12 months so you can verify each round of fixes. If you want ongoing coverage as the site changes, Watch and Watch Pro re-scan on a schedule and email you when a new issue appears - but they are prepaid and do not auto-renew. No widget, no recurring overlay license, no lock-in.
When an overlay might still be the right call
We are not here to say an overlay is always wrong. There are real cases for one:
- You have no developer and no way to apply fixes. A list of violations only helps if someone can act on it. If you cannot edit your markup and cannot hand the fix prompts to an LLM, an overlay at least changes the rendered experience for some users. AudioEye's human-review layer is the more thorough version of that if you can afford the premium.
- Your platform locks you out of the source. Some white-labeled SaaS storefronts do not let you edit the markup, so audit findings are not actionable for you. An overlay may be the only thing you can install.
- You want the visitor adjustment menu and you understand it is not compliance. The contrast and text-size toggles have real users who value them. As a comfort feature, separate from any WCAG-conformance claim, that is legitimate.
Outside those cases, paying either vendor every year to patch the surface, while the code underneath stays inaccessible, is the expensive way to not fix the problem.
What we do not claim
- We do not say Site Brace makes your site "ADA-compliant." ADA compliance is a legal determination only a court can make. We test WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA technical conformance and report what we find.
- We do not claim automated testing catches every WCAG issue. Automated tools cover roughly 30 to 40 percent of the criteria; the rest need human review, and our report says which is which.
- If you have a demand letter in hand, neither an audit nor an overlay is a substitute for an attorney. A written report of your actual violations is a useful start to a good-faith-remediation paper trail, nothing more.
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Related: the deeper single-vendor write-ups on AudioEye and accessiBe, why accessibility overlays do not make sites WCAG-compliant, and the full comparison across all the tools.
Site Brace is not affiliated with AudioEye Inc. or accessiBe Inc. "AudioEye," "accessiBe," and "accessWidget" are trademarks of their respective owners. The descriptions above reflect each company's publicly stated product model and publicly reported events as of 2026-06-15; the FTC settlement is paraphrased from the agency's own press releases, and the Roselli case from the public settlement statement, both linked above. Overlay pricing changes often and is not quoted here; check each vendor's site for current numbers. If we have something wrong, tell us and we will correct it.