Do accessibility overlay widgets actually work?

No. Overlays cannot fix semantic problems because they cannot know what your images depict or whether your headings are meaningful. Hundreds of US lawsuits have been filed against sites that had one installed, and many disabled users report they interfere with the assistive technology already configured.

What is the minimum colour contrast for website text?

WCAG 2.2 AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and above — plus 3:1 for interface components and meaningful graphics. Most body copy and most button labels are normal text, so 4.5:1 is the number that usually applies.

Does accessibility help SEO?

Yes, because a screen reader and a crawler read the same signals: heading hierarchy, link text, alt attributes, semantic elements, and whether content exists in the HTML at all. Accessibility is not a ranking factor by name, but most of its requirements are things search engines independently reward.

Accessibility

What is an accessibility statement and do I need one?

A published page stating which standard you target, how far the site currently conforms, what is known not to conform, and how to report a barrier. It is mandatory for UK and EU public sector bodies and good practice for everyone else.

Answered by Anas Bin Masud 184 words 3 sections

What an honest statement contains

The standard and level you target — normally WCAG 2.2 AA
Current status: fully conformant, partially conformant, or not conformant
Known issues, named specifically rather than gestured at
A contact route for reporting a barrier, and how quickly you will respond
The date of the last assessment and how it was carried out

Why partial conformance is the credible claim

Very few sites are fully conformant, and claiming to be invites the first counter-example. Naming the specific gaps, with a date for addressing them, demonstrates that someone actually tested rather than ran a scanner once.

What it does not do

It is not a defence. A statement documents intent and progress; it does not substitute for fixing the barriers it describes. Publishing one and changing nothing is worse than publishing none, because it is evidence you knew.

The longer version

This answer is deliberately short. If you want the full treatment, Website accessibility, without the compliance theatre covers it in about 5 minutes — free, ungated, written from client work.

Who answered this

Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan — fifteen live client sites, six of them stores taking real payments. These answers come from those projects rather than from a content brief. More about how I work, or ask me something directly.