The overlay problem, in plain numbers
- • In 2024, over 1,000 companies running an accessibility overlay were still sued under the ADA. The widget did not stop the lawsuit.
- • UserWay was acquired by Level Access in 2024 — an audit company. Notably, even audit firms don't claim a widget alone makes you compliant; real conformance still requires fixing the code.
- • 69–72% of disabled users rate overlays "not effective" (WebAIM screen-reader survey), and 900+ accessibility practitioners have signed the Overlay Fact Sheet warning against relying on them.
UserWay's widget layers JavaScript on top of your site at runtime. Your underlying HTML — the code a screen reader and a plaintiff's tester actually read — stays broken. That's why "we already have a widget" is exactly the profile that keeps getting demand letters.
What a real UserWay alternative has to do
A genuine alternative fixes the code, not the appearance of compliance. Look for these four things:
Widget vs. real accessibility monitoring
| Widget (UserWay) | Code-level monitoring | |
|---|---|---|
| Fixes the underlying code | No | Yes — tells devs what to fix |
| Stops ADA lawsuits | No (1,000+ overlay users sued in 2024) | Reduces exposure + gives evidence |
| Legal / audit evidence | No | Timestamped WCAG/VPAT export |
| Catches regressions | No | Re-scans every deploy |
| Rated effective by users | No (69–72% say not effective) | n/a — it fixes the real barriers |
How to choose — and try one free
The fastest way to see the gap is to scan your own site. If you run a widget today, a real scan will show you the failures it's hiding. Run a free WCAG check (no signup, no widget), or scan a specific URL. You'll get your score, the exact issues ranked by lawsuit risk, and how to fix each.
Where Proveform fits
Proveform is a code-level accessibility monitoring alternative to overlay widgets. We scan your real HTML with the WCAG ruleset, re-check on every deploy, alert you the moment something regresses, and export timestamped WCAG/VPAT evidence for auditors and legal — from $149/mo. We are not an overlay and we don't inject anything into your site. It's the honest version of "are we compliant?" — proof, not a widget.
Frequently asked questions
Does UserWay make my site ADA compliant?
No. UserWay's widget modifies presentation at runtime but leaves your underlying code unchanged. Courts have allowed ADA suits to proceed against sites running overlays, and in 2024 over 1,000 overlay-using companies were still sued. Compliance requires the real code to meet WCAG.
Is there a free UserWay alternative?
Yes — you can run a free, real-code WCAG scan of any site with no signup using Proveform's free accessibility checker. Unlike a widget, it reads your actual HTML and shows the failures a screen reader hits, ranked by lawsuit risk.
Why do people switch away from UserWay?
Because the widget doesn't provide legal cover (overlay-using sites keep getting sued), disabled users report overlays as ineffective (WebAIM found 69–72% rate them 'not effective'), and the subscription hides the problem rather than fixing the code.
What's the difference between UserWay and code-level monitoring?
UserWay adds a JavaScript widget on top of your site. Code-level monitoring scans your actual HTML against the WCAG ruleset, tells your developers exactly what to fix, re-checks on every deploy, and exports timestamped evidence you can hand an auditor or a lawyer.