An overlay hides the problem. We measure, report and document.
An accessibility overlay is a JavaScript layer added to your site afterward that offers the visitor a few display settings. It can be useful, but it does not fix the structural accessibility problems in your page's source code. cerez.io chose a different path: it genuinely scans your site against WCAG 2.2, ranks violations by severity, produces a sample compliance score between 0 and 100 and helps you document your EAA statement. On this page we explain, without exaggeration, where the overlay approach falls short and what we do differently. This content is not legal advice.
cerez.io is not an accessibility overlay; it scans your site against WCAG 2.2, reports violations by severity and leaves the fixing to your own source code. It does not promise instant or full compliance; it measures your compliance, reports it and helps you document it.
Why is the overlay approach not enough on its own?
Overlay tools inject a single script and offer display settings; this can be a convenience for some users, but it neither measures structural violations nor resolves them in the source code.
The overlay approach
Presentation layer, big promise.
- It does not permanently fix the source code; missing alt text, an incorrect heading hierarchy, an unlabeled form field and insufficient contrast live in the HTML, CSS and ARIA layer, and the display layer draped over them covers them rather than resolving them.
- On every page load it tries to re-patch at runtime; because the actual violation stays in the source code, the result is neither measurable nor auditable.
- It does not measure; it does not tell you which element violates which WCAG criterion and with what severity, and it produces no score or prioritized violation report.
- An overlay that intervenes in the DOM at runtime can conflict with assistive technologies such as screen readers and disrupt an experience that already works.
We wired up a button and the site became accessible, that is not how it actually works.
cerez.io approach
Measure, report, document.
- It genuinely measures against the WCAG 2.2 A/AA/AAA success criteria.
- It produces a 0-100 sample compliance score and a severity-ranked violation report.
- Document your obligation with the EAA statement generator.
- The widget runs in isolation inside a Shadow DOM, and native screen reader behavior is preserved.
We say it plainly: full compliance requires source code fixes and manual review. We shorten the path and produce the evidence.
Not a claim, a public record.
Our critique of overlays is a critique of a general approach and rests on verifiable public facts; you can review the three sources below yourself.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved the final order requiring the overlay provider accessiBe to pay 1 million USD over deceptive claims that its automated tool made sites WCAG compliant, together with an obligation not to state that any site is WCAG compliant.
See the FTC orderAccording to UsableNet's reporting, in 2024 roughly a quarter of the digital accessibility lawsuits filed in the US targeted sites that already had an accessibility widget or overlay installed; in the first half of 2025 this share hovered around 22.6 percent. Installing an overlay does not provide automatic legal protection.
Review the dataSigned by hundreds of accessibility experts, the Overlay Fact Sheet is a public resource documenting that overlays do not provide compliance on their own and can conflict with assistive technology.
Read the Fact SheetThese records concern the general overlay approach; cerez.io does not provide lawsuit protection, certification or a full-compliance guarantee for any tool.
Not a promise, a measurable capability.
WCAG 2.2 Scanner
The static scanner examines your site against the WCAG 2.2 A/AA/AAA success criteria, extracts the machine-detectable violations and produces a 0-100 sample compliance score. The output is not a visible button but a measurable finding: which element, which criterion, with what severity.
Severity-Ranked Violation Report
Findings are ranked as critical, serious, moderate and minor; you spend limited time on the highest-impact issues and track progress.
EAA Statement Generator and VPAT/ACR Draft
The accessibility statement under EAA Article 13, together with the VPAT/ACR draft, transparently sets out your compliance status, known limitations and feedback channel. The statement is based on your latest scan, it is not an empty template.
AI Alt-Text Suggestion
The vision-based model detects images with missing alt text and suggests a description; it is advisory in nature, and human review is recommended before publishing.
Deterministic Auto-Fix Rules
For certain violations it applies a temporary fix at the SDK level; the permanent fix happens in your source code.
Shadow DOM Widget and Behavior-Based Barrier Report
It offers the visitor a real widget that runs in isolation (35 tools, 12 profiles); the behavior-based barrier report that maps telemetry to WCAG shows which barrier is actually being experienced.
The things we do not say are as important as the things we do.
- We do not promise instant compliance; accessibility advances not through a button but through a measurable cycle.
- We do not promise full compliance, one hundred percent, certification or lawsuit protection; automated scanning catches a significant portion of violations, but full compliance requires source code fixes and manual review.
- A score of 100 is not a seal of perfection; the 73/100 on this page is an example, and your real score varies depending on your site.
- The place where the fixing is done is your source code; we measure, prioritize and help you document.
Being honest is not a competitive disadvantage; the point where overlays get fined is precisely where the exaggerated promise begins.
Not guesswork, measurable compliance.
The WCAG 2.2 scanner analyzes your site page by page, ranks violations by severity and produces a 0-100 compliance score. The report below is an example output.
WCAG 2.2 AA · 24 pages scanned
Last scan: today 09:14
+12 points compared to last month.btn-secondary · WCAG 1.4.3 (AA)
Auto-fix
:focus style has been removed, keyboard users get lost · WCAG 2.4.7 (AA)
Auto-fix
input#search · WCAG 3.3.2 (A)
Guide
Automated scanning catches a significant portion of violations; full WCAG compliance requires source code fixes and manual review. Auto-fix only offers a temporary fix at the SDK level for certain violations. Human review is recommended for AI alt-text suggestions. We make no promise of instant or full compliance.
Honest compliance advances not through a button but through a cycle.
Scan
Scan the page against the WCAG 2.2 success criteria; automated scanning extracts the machine-detectable violations. This is an objective snapshot of the current state.
Free scannerPrioritize
Report violations by severity: critical, serious, moderate, minor. A compliance score makes progress measurable.
FeaturesFix in the source code
The real work is here; violations are fixed in the HTML, CSS and ARIA layer. No runtime layer does this permanently for you.
Accessibility widgetDocument with a statement
Document the work with an accessibility statement under EAA Article 13; the statement is based on your latest scan.
Statement generatorFor a deep comparison, see our Overlay vs Real WCAG Scan guide.
Honesty questions
Is cerez.io an accessibility overlay?
Does an accessibility overlay provide WCAG compliance on its own?
Are sites that use an overlay protected from lawsuit risk?
Can an overlay conflict with assistive technology?
Does cerez.io guarantee instant or full compliance?
How does a real WCAG scan differ from an overlay?
Start with real measurement, not an overlay.
Scan your site against WCAG 2.2, see violations by severity, review your behavior-based barrier report and start creating your EAA statement. The helper widget also comes with a single line of embed code. Setup takes 5 minutes.
no credit card sample report in 5 min Turkish-language support