[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 3 (Monday, January 6, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 647-649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31765]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 222 3156]
accessiBe; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public
Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
[[Page 648]]
ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the complaint and the
terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that
would settle these allegations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before February 5, 2025.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Please write ``accessiBe; File
No. 222 3156'' on your comment and file your comment online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, please mail your
comment to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex W), Washington, DC
20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristin Williams (202-326-2619),
Division of Advertising Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection,
Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC
20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule Sec. 2.34, 16 CFR
2.34, notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
placed on the public record for a period of 30 days. The following
Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent
agreement and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of
the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained at
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before February 5,
2025. Write ``accessiBe; File No. 222 3156'' on your comment. Your
comment--including your name and your State--will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable,
on the https://www.regulations.gov website.
Because of heightened security screening, postal mail addressed to
the Commission will be subject to delay. We strongly encourage you to
submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov
website. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write
``accessiBe; File No. 222 3156'' on your comment and on the envelope,
and send it via overnight service to: Federal Trade Commission, Office
of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex
W), Washington, DC 20580.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible
website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for
making sure your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include sensitive
personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social Security
number; date of birth; driver's license number or other State
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also
solely responsible for making sure your comment does not include
sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule Sec.
4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(c). In
particular, the written request for confidential treatment that
accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis for
the request and must identify the specific portions of the comment to
be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(c). Your
comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants
your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once
your comment has been posted on the https://www.regulations.gov
website--as legally required by FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(b)--we cannot redact
or remove your comment from that website, unless you submit a
confidentiality request that meets the requirements for such treatment
under FTC Rule Sec. 4.9(c), and the General Counsel grants that
request.
Visit the FTC website at https://www.ftc.gov to read this document
and the news release describing the proposed settlement. The FTC Act
and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of
public comments to consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate.
The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments
it receives on or before February 5, 2025. For information on the
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from
accessiBe Inc. and accessiBe Ltd. (collectively, ``accessiBe'').
The proposed consent order (``proposed order'') has been placed on
the public record for 30 days for receipt of comments by interested
persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the
public record. After 30 days, the Commission will again review the
agreement and the comments received and will decide whether it should
withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final
the agreement's proposed order.
This matter involves accessiBe's marketing and sale of a web
accessibility software plug in called accessWidget. accessiBe
represented that accessWidget could make any website compliant with the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (``WCAG''), a comprehensive set of
technical criteria used to assess website accessibility. accessiBe
advertised these claims on its website and social media, as well as in
articles that were formatted as impartial and objective reviews on
third-party websites. accessiBe also failed to disclose its material
connections with the publishers of those third-party articles.
The proposed complaint alleges that accessWidget did not make all
websites WCAG compliant, and that the company's claims were false,
misleading, or unsubstantiated. The proposed complaint also alleges
that formatting the third-party articles and reviews as independent
opinions by impartial authors and publishers was false and misleading,
and that accessiBe's failure to disclose its material connections with
the publishers of those articles was deceptive.
[[Page 649]]
The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent
accessiBe from engaging in these and similar acts and practices in the
future. Provision I prohibits accessiBe from representing that its
automated products, including accessWidget's artificial intelligence
and other automated technology, can make any website WCAG compliant, or
can ensure continued compliance with WCAG over time as web content
changes, unless the company has competent and reliable evidence to
support the representations. Provision II prohibits accessiBe from
misrepresenting any fact material to consumers about any of the
company's products or services, such as the value or total cost; any
material restrictions, limitations, or conditions; or any material
aspect of its performance, features, benefits, efficacy, nature, or
central characteristics. Provision III prohibits accessiBe from
misrepresenting that statements made in third-party reviews, articles,
or blog posts about its automated products, including accessWidget's
artificial intelligence and other automated technology, are independent
opinions by impartial authors; that an endorser is an independent or
ordinary user of the automated product; or that the endorser is an
independent organization or is providing objective information.
Provision IV requires accessiBe to disclose clearly and
conspicuously, and in close proximity to representations about its
automated products, including accessWidget's artificial intelligence
and other automated technology, any unexpected material connection that
an endorser has to accessiBe, to the product or service, or to
affiliated individuals or entities. Provision V requires accessiBe to
disclose, in connection with representations that accessWidget or the
company's other artificial intelligence or automated products correct
accessibility barriers on a website, that such products or services
will not correct barriers on third-party web domains or subdomains that
may be part of the overall user experience, unless those domains also
use the product. Such disclosure must be made clearly and
conspicuously, and prior to the consumer incurring any financial
obligation.
Provision VI requires accessiBe to pay the Commission $1,000,000 in
monetary relief. Provision VII describes procedures and legal rights
related to that payment. Provision VIII requires accessiBe to provide
sufficient customer information to enable the Commission to efficiently
administer consumer redress. Provisions IX through XIII are reporting
and compliance provisions.
Provision IX mandates that accessiBe acknowledge receipt of the
order, distribute the order to principals, officers, and certain
employees and agents, and obtain signed acknowledgments from them.
Provision X requires accessiBe to submit compliance reports to the
Commission one year after the order's issuance and submit notifications
when certain events occur. Under Provision XI, accessiBe must create
certain records for 10 years and retain them for five years. Provision
XII requires accessiBe to provide information or documents necessary
for the Commission to monitor compliance with the order during the
period of the order's effective dates. Finally, Provision XIII provides
the order's effective dates, including that, with exceptions, the order
will terminate in 20 years.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify the
proposed order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
April J. Tabor,
Secretary.
Concurring Statement of Commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson, Joined by
Commissioner Melissa Holyoak
Today we vote to approve an administrative complaint and proposed
consent order with accessiBe, which advertised its accessWidget as
``the #1 fully automated ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] and WCAG
[Web Content Accessibility Guidelines] compliance solution,'' ``always
ensuring compliance by rescanning and re-analyzing your website every
24 hours to remediate new content, widgets, pages, and anything else
you may add.'' The complaint alleges that accessiBe's automated
solution fell far short of its promise and failed to correct many
website accessibility issues.\1\ The complaint also accuses accessiBe
of misrepresenting that various reviews and testimonials of
accessWidget were independent and impartial when they were in fact
bought and paid for by accessiBe.\2\
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\1\ Complaint ]] 77-90.
\2\ Id. ]] 52-76, 91-96.
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I write separately to clarify my vote in favor of the count
accusing accessiBe of misrepresenting its product's performance. Each
subscription to accessWidget covers only one domain, but websites
sometimes depend on subdomains or third-party domains for critical
functionality, like making a reservation or processing a payment.\3\
The complaint alleges that ``[accessiBe] also fail[ed] to disclose, or
disclose adequately, that accessWidget does not remediate website
content hosted on third-party web domains or subdomains (unless the
third party or subdomains also happen to use accessWidget).'' \4\ The
consent order requires that accessiBe disclose this limitation in the
future. My vote should not be taken as endorsing the position that the
ADA, or the WCAG, require a website operator to ensure that some or all
of the third-party domains or subdomains with which it integrates are
accessible. I take no position on that question, which involves the
interpretation of a complex law that Congress has tasked other agencies
with interpreting and enforcing. I concur in the deception count
because the remaining allegations involving misrepresentations of the
product's ability to bring the user's own domain into compliance are
sufficient to state a claim of deception against accessiBe. Subject to
that clarification, I concur in the filing of this complaint and
settlement.
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\3\ See id. ] 85.
\4\ Id. ] 86.
[FR Doc. 2024-31765 Filed 1-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P