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The Federal Trade Commission will require software provider accessiBe to pay $1 million to settle allegations that it misrepresented the ability of its AI-powered web accessibility tool to make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) for people with disabilities.
“Companies looking for help making their websites WCAG compliant must be able to trust that products do what they are advertised to do,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Overstating a product’s AI or other capabilities without adequate evidence is deceptive, and the FTC will act to stop it.”
New York-based accessiBe Inc. and accessiBe Ltd. (accessiBe) market and sell a web accessibility software plug-in called accessWidget that the company has said can make any website compliant with WCAG, a comprehensive set of technical criteria used to assess website accessibility. The company made the claims on its website, on social media, and in articles on third-party websites formatted to look like impartial and objective reviews.
According to the complaint, despite the company’s claims, accessWidget did not make all user websites WCAG-compliant and these claims were therefore false, misleading, or unsubstantiated, in violation of the FTC Act. In addition, the complaint alleges that accessiBe deceptively formatted third-party articles and reviews to appear as if they were independent opinions by impartial authors and failed to disclose the company’s material connections to the supposedly objective reviewers.
Under the proposed order settling the complaint, accessiBe would be prohibited from engaging in the allegedly illegal conduct. First, the order would bar the company from representing that its automated products, including accessWidget’s AI, can make any website WCAG-compliant or can ensure continued compliance with WCAG over time, unless it has the evidence to support such claims.
Next, the order would prohibit accessiBe from misrepresenting any material facts about its products and services to consumers regarding their features, performance, benefits and other qualities, and from misrepresenting that: 1) statements made in third-party reviews, blog posts, or articles about its automated products are independent opinions by impartial users; 2) an endorser is an independent or ordinary user of the automated product; or 3) an endorser is an independent organization providing objective information.
The order also would require accessiBe to clearly and conspicuously disclose any “unexpected material connection” that an endorser has to the company’s automated products, including accessWidget’s artificial intelligence and other automated technology. Finally, the order would require accessiBe to pay the FTC $1 million that may be used to provide refunds to consumers.
The Commission vote to accept the proposed consent order was 5-0, with Commissioners Andrew Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak issuing a joint separate statement.
The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register soon. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days, after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Instructions for filing comments appear in the published notice. Comments must be received 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Once processed, comments will be posted on Regulations.gov.
NOTE: When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $51,744.
The lead staff attorney on this matter is Kristin Williams in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. The FTC will never demand money, make threats, tell you to transfer money, or promise you a prize. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.