Overlay widgets
Fast to drop in. Do not fix the underlying code. Ruled out by German monitoring bodies under BITV 2.0. The FTC fined a leading vendor USD 1,000,000 for misleading claims.
REF · BFSG 2025
Accessibility is now the law. We get you ready.
The Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (BFSG) has been in force since 28 June 2025 for private-sector digital products. awedit scans your site against WCAG 2.1 AA (via EN 301 549), experts review every finding, and you ship reviewable changes at the source. Never a third-party overlay.
Orientation, not evidence. Not legal advice.
TIMELINE
The clock started in June 2025.
Since 28.06.2025
BFSG in force. Private-sector digital products must meet accessibility requirements aligned with EN 301 549 (WCAG 2.1 AA).
Ongoing
German monitoring bodies actively review reported barriers. First enforcement decisions cited overlay scripts as insufficient.
From 28.06.2030
Transitional exceptions for older self-service terminals expire. No grace period left for consumer surfaces.
METHODOLOGY
AI detects. Experts review. You ship at the source.
Automated scanning maps issues across DOM, ARIA, contrast, focus order and document tags. Every AI proposal passes a qualified human before it becomes a change you can ship.
- STEP · 01Detect
Automated scan of your rendered page against WCAG 2.1 AA rules. AI drafts a suggested fix next to every flagged issue. Nothing is applied.
- STEP · 02Review
A qualified human reviewer resolves false positives and signs off each finding. Their name is on the record.
- STEP · 03Ship
You receive a reviewable change at the source: a pull request, a patch, a CMS edit, or a remediated document. Not a runtime overlay.
AI detects. Experts decide. You ship at the source. No tool alone achieves accessibility, and no overlay script satisfies the BFSG.
WHERE WE SIT
Three options, one that actually holds up.
Buyers usually compare three approaches. Two are disqualified or insufficient on their own. We sit in the corner that is left.
Detection-only platforms
Useful to find issues. They stop short of a certified change you can ship. The backlog stays your problem.
awedit
AI-accelerated detection plus human-reviewed remediation at the source. Every shipped change carries a named human signature.
THE SHORT GUIDE
What the BFSG actually asks of you.
A plain-English read of the parts most product teams get wrong on the first pass.
Scope: who is covered
The BFSG applies to many private-sector digital products offered to consumers in Germany: e-commerce, banking, e-books, transport tickets, and business-to-consumer SaaS. Public-sector duties continue to run under BITV 2.0. If you are unsure whether your product is in scope, assume yes and rule it out with evidence.
Standard: WCAG 2.1 AA via EN 301 549
The BFSG points to the European harmonised standard EN 301 549, which in turn adopts WCAG 2.1 A and AA for the web. That is the working target: perceivable, operable, understandable, robust.
Documentation: the accessibility statement
A public accessibility statement is required. It names the standard you conform to, lists known non-conformances, and gives a working feedback channel. Empty statements draw complaints faster than partial ones.
Enforcement: monitoring and fines
Federal and Länder monitoring bodies review complaints and can order remediation. Serious cases carry fines up to €100,000. The reputational cost of a public complaint typically arrives first.
Widgets and overlays: not a fix
Runtime overlays that inject ARIA or restyle the page do not remediate the underlying barrier. German authorities and the FTC have said so publicly. Use them if you like, but do not count them as compliance.
READY?
Two minutes to see where you stand.
Drop your URL, we queue a scan, and the result page shows a plain-language snapshot with top findings. No account, no sales call, no PDF ambush.
A scan result is orientation, not evidence, and does not by itself satisfy the BFSG.