FTC Approves Final Order Requiring accessiBe to pay $1 Million

papy · April 22, 2025, 5:57pm

For those of us ecommerce Sellers who operate our own shopping websites, especially if we’re not actually website designers, trying to keep the site Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) compliant is tough. Many of us might turn to a third-party service provider for help.

Started in 2018, accessiBe is one such service provider that claimed sites could be nearly 100% WCAG compliant simply by using their AI-assisted plug-in widget. Unfortunately, those claims have been investigated and found fraudulent in three areas:

accessiBe’s compliance claims were not substantiated, and its AI use was not found to be accurate.
Some reviews of accessiBe’s widget and performance were fake or offered inauthentically.
Some reviewers of accessiBe were paid, sponsored, or otherwise compensated (e.g., with free product) but did not disclose this.

Re: 1 above and the use of AI, this was my personal favorite exhibit (my notes in red):

SELLER TAKEAWAYS:

Always request a service provider demo on your own content, so that you know what you wan to see (and more easily recognize errors).
Verify clients, reviews, and testimonials for yourself. Ask specifically whether any reviewer received compensation or free products.
Search for “in the wild” examples yourself (don’t just rely on where a company sends you to see them in action).

LINKS:

papy · April 23, 2025, 9:28pm

A million-dollar blunder: How the FTC’s settlement with software provider accessiBe can help your business avoid similar missteps

By BCP Staff
April 23, 2025

It’s advertising law 101: before you claim your product can perform a certain task, you need evidence it will work as promised. If your product doesn’t live up to the hype, you’ll have to deal with the consequences—which could include a potential FTC lawsuit. That’s the lesson from a recently announced settlement between the FTC and accessiBe, a company that advertised its online plug-in as a fully automated tool to make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), a comprehensive set of technical criteria used to assess website accessibility for people with disabilities. According to the FTC, the plug-in didn’t work as promised. And the FTC says accessiBe doubled down on its problems by disguising paid reviews and articles the company drafted or edited as impartial third-party reviews.

To resolve the allegations of the complaint, accessiBe agreed to tell the truth in its ads, disclose connections between endorsers and the company’s products that might affect the weight consumers give the endorsement, and pay the FTC $1 million to provide refunds to consumers.

Consider these tips to avoid similar issues:

Tell the truth. The FTC says accessiBe’s advertisements overstated how well its plug-in performed. Tell the truth in your ads. It’s not just the law; it’s also good business. Overstating or exaggerating how well a product or service performs may lead to customer dissatisfaction, financial losses, or reputational harm.

When it comes to reviews and testimonials, be clear and honest. Reviews and testimonials can be a great way for potential customers to learn how your product or service worked for others. But people want to know if there’s a connection between a reviewer or testimonialist and your company, because that could affect how much weight the consumer gives to the review. If a review is given by your own employee, a paid endorser, or another person with ties to your company, make that clear to your customers. Failure to do so could run afoul of the FTC’s Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, and the FTC may seek civil penalties or other remedies for violations.