Una opinión positiva sobre las capas de accesibilidad

Recientemente, la compañía Level Access ha comprado la compañía UserWay. Las dos compañías se dedican a la accesibilidad web. Uno de los productos que ofrece UserWay es una capa de accesibilidad (accessibility overlay). Como este tipo de producto suele recibir muchas críticas, el CEO de Level Access ha publicado la carta abierta My Perspective: Digital Accessibility and Overlays:

Today, our company, Level Access announced that we have entered a definitive agreement to acquire UserWay.org, a digital accessibility solution provider. UserWay is a public company, and the transaction hasn’t closed, so I can’t discuss specifics about UserWay as a company, its products, or our agreement today. That noted, UserWay has been grouped with companies providing “overlays.” Accordingly, I think it’s appropriate to share my perspective on overlays, in general, and how they fit into the greater picture of digital accessibility. 

TLDR: Overlays are typically made of two separate technologies: automated remediation technology and browser-based assistive tools. When leveraged effectively both can have a profound, positive impact on accessibility. If we’re thoughtful and deliberate in their use—implementing overlays in an ethical fashion—we will drastically accelerate the timeline for the creation of an accessible digital world. We can remain mired in historical biases against these technologies or use them to accelerate the cause of accessibility. We choose the latter.