Compare
We don’t put anything on your website.
TrustScans is a scanner and a report. It crawls your site from the outside, tells your team what fails WCAG and why, and shows how to fix it in your own code. Here is how that compares with overlays and with other scanners.
Two approaches
An overlay acts in the visitor’s browser. We act through your team.
Most accessibility vendors fall into one of two camps. The difference is where the change happens, and who it reaches.
An overlay
Changes the page in each visitor’s browser.
Your codeUnchanged
The markup your team ships stays exactly as it is.
A vendor script is addedAdded to your site
Usually one line of JavaScript that loads the vendor’s code on every page Source: UserWay, product facts Source: EqualWeb, widget.
It runs on every page view
In the visitor’s browser it scans the page and tries to repair what it detects, often with a toolbar of display options Source: Overlay Fact Sheet.
What the visitor gets
Whatever the script managed to change. The underlying code-level issues typically remain Source: UsableNet, 2025 report.
TrustScans
Changes nothing. Tells your team what to fix.
We scan from the outsideNothing added to your site
A real browser loads your public pages, like a visitor would, and tests each one.
A report with context
Each finding names the WCAG criterion, the pages affected, the element’s selector and HTML, with a highlighted screenshot for the first occurrences.
Your team fixes the source
Guidance for every rule explains why it matters and how to fix it. A developer, or a coding agent connected over MCP, makes the change.
A new scan verifies it
The score only moves when a scan confirms the fix, and every visitor gets the repaired page.
Comparisons
Side by side, in each vendor’s own words.
Every claim about another company links to its source. Facts were checked on 26 September 2026.
Overlay and widget vendors
Products whose headline offer is code added to your site that changes pages as they load. Several also sell scanning, audits or developer tools, and each page says where we overlap.
Widget, plus scanning tools
TrustScans vs accessiBe
accessiBe’s accessWidget remediates pages on your live site. TrustScans installs nothing and gives your team the context to fix the code. A sourced comparison.
Widget, plus monitoring and audits
TrustScans vs UserWay
UserWay’s widget changes the presentation layer of your pages. TrustScans installs nothing and helps your team fix the code. A sourced comparison.
JavaScript fixes, monitoring and audits
TrustScans vs AudioEye
AudioEye fixes issues through JavaScript that runs in your live code. TrustScans installs nothing and helps your team fix the source. A sourced comparison.
Widget, plus monitoring
TrustScans vs EqualWeb
EqualWeb’s widget applies fixes through the browser DOM. TrustScans installs nothing and helps your team fix the files. A sourced comparison.
Other scanners
Tools that, like TrustScans, test your site and hand findings to your team without changing the page.
The anchor argument
An overlay changes what one browser shows. A fix in your code changes what everyone gets.
Regulators, disability organisations and accessibility practitioners have all weighed in on overlays. We collected what they said, with a link to every source, and explained why TrustScans takes the other road.
Our limits
What no scanner can promise, including ours.
Every scanner, ours included, finds only part of what WCAG asks. The W3C says “no tool alone can determine if a site meets accessibility standards” Source: W3C WAI, evaluation overview. Deque, which makes the axe engine TrustScans runs alongside its own checks, reports that automated testing covered 57% of issues by volume in its audit data Source: Deque, 2021. The UK Government Digital Service found the best tool it tested caught 40% of deliberately planted barriers Source: GDS tool audit, 2018.
So we keep confirmed failures, items that need a person, and recommendations in separate lists, we count only confirmed failures in the score, and no TrustScans report tells you a site is compliant.
Questions
About these comparisons
01What is the difference between an overlay and a scanner?
An overlay is code added to your site that tries to change pages in each visitor’s browser Source: Overlay Fact Sheet. A scanner tests your pages and reports what fails, so your team can fix the source. Some vendors sell both. TrustScans is only a scanner and report, and adds nothing to your site.
02Why compare TrustScans with overlay vendors at all?
Because buyers often weigh them against each other, and because several overlay vendors also sell scanning, monitoring and audits. Each comparison says where we overlap as well as where we differ.
03How do you keep these comparisons accurate?
Every claim about another company links to its own website or to an independent source, and every page shows the date we checked it. If you spot something out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Sources
Where every claim on this page comes from
- 01
UserWay, product facts
UserWay: Information for AI assistants and LLMs (last updated 23 April 2026)Checked 26 September 2026.
- 02
- 03
Overlay Fact Sheet
Overlay Fact Sheet (independent practitioners): Overlay Fact SheetChecked 26 September 2026.
- 04
UsableNet, 2025 report
UsableNet: 2025 Year-End Digital Accessibility Lawsuit ReportData from 1 January to 15 December 2025. Checked 26 September 2026.
- 05
W3C WAI, evaluation overview
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Evaluating Web Accessibility OverviewUpdated 12 August 2026. Checked 26 September 2026.
- 06
Deque, 2021
Deque Systems: Deque Study Shows Its Automated Testing Identifies 57 Percent of Digital Accessibility Issues, Surpassing Accepted Industry Benchmarks10 March 2021. Checked 26 September 2026.
- 07
GDS tool audit, 2018
UK Government Digital Service: Accessibility tools audit resultsLast updated 13 April 2018. Checked 26 September 2026.
accessiBe, UserWay, AudioEye, EqualWeb, Siteimprove, axe and other product names are trademarks of their respective owners, used here only to identify their products. TrustScans is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Competitor details come from each vendor’s own public website and the third-party sources listed above, and were checked on 26 September 2026. Products and pricing change; check the vendor’s site for their current offer. Statements about what TrustScans does and why are our own position. TrustScans is not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice.
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