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Lucia

WHY NOT POP-UPS

A pop-up can't fix what it covers up.

You've seen the little floating accessibility button — the one that promises to make any site compliant with a single line of code. The people who actually use screen readers have said for years that it doesn't work, and often makes things worse. Lucia does the opposite.

Hundreds of accessibility experts have signed an open letter saying so, and regulators have fined the largest pop-up vendor for misleading claims. So we fix the page itself — and never add a widget.

TWO WAYS TO DO IT

Patch it in the browser, or fix it in the page.

It comes down to one thing: where the work happens. A pop-up tries to fix your site from the outside, in every visitor's browser. Lucia fixes the page on the way out, so what arrives is simply correct.

The pop-up widget

Patched from the outside.

A visitor arrives and your original page loads — unchanged
A script runs downloading a widget into the visitor's browser
It guesses, on the fly labelling things from the outside, every single page-load
  • it can't see what the page meant
  • it adds its own reading voice
  • it grabs the keyboard
The screen reader is left confused now two tools are talking over each other
Lucia

Fixed in the page itself.

A visitor arrives and the page passes through Lucia first
We improve the page itself as it loads — descriptions, labels, order, contrast
  • fixed before it reaches the browser
  • nothing extra to download
  • no second voice, no grabbed keys
The browser gets a proper page the one you wish you'd built
The screen reader just reads it clearly, like any well-built site

SIDE BY SIDE

Lucia and the pop-ups, honestly compared.

Drawn from public records — court filings, regulator orders, and the vendors' own marketing.

Luciafixes the page accessiBepop-up UserWaypop-up AudioEyepop-up
Fixes the actual page ✓ — — —
Nothing for visitors to click or dismiss ✓ — — —
Doesn't fight screen readers ✓ — — —
Keeps working when the page changes ✓ — — —
Honest about what's automated ✓ — — —
A specialist can sign it off ✓ — — —
Named in accessibility lawsuits No Often Often Often
Fined by regulators for its claims No Yes — —

We don't enjoy naming names. We do it because "just add this one button" is the most common reason a site never gets properly fixed.

FOUR WAYS THEY FALL SHORT

Why a widget can't get there.

  1. 01

    They fight the tools people rely on.

    A pop-up brings its own keyboard handling and reading voice — which then argue with the screen reader and keyboard the visitor already set up. The result is harder to use, not easier.

  2. 02

    They paint over broken markup.

    Sticking a label on something that was never built properly doesn't make it right — it gives the screen reader two conflicting stories and lets it guess. The underlying page is left untouched.

  3. 03

    The toolbar isn't the point.

    Sliders for bigger text and higher contrast are aimed at sighted visitors. The people who depend on a screen reader already have one — they don't need the widget's second-best version.

  4. 04

    They forget the moment the page changes.

    Modern sites update without fully reloading. The pop-up's quick once-over goes stale instantly. Lucia fixes the page every time it's served, so it's never out of date.

DON'T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT

The people most affected have already spoken.

[Engineer: paste the verbatim statement from overlayfactsheet.com about how overlays fail screen-reader users. ~2 sentences.]

The Overlay Fact Sheet ↗

Signed by ~800 accessibility professionals

[Engineer: paste the verbatim quote from the EDF/IAAP joint statement on overlay widgets here.]

Disability advocates' joint statement

Equal Entry · DREDF · IAAP

We've left these as placeholders rather than put words in anyone's mouth — the verbatim quotes go in before this page is published.

SEE THE DIFFERENCE

No button. No toolbar. Just a page that works.

Put in your address and see your Beacon Score — and exactly what Lucia would fix on the page itself. Nothing for your visitors to notice, except a site that's easier to use.

See your score  See pricing