DUBLIN—A widely used cookie-consent vendor updated its banner Tuesday so that the Decline button only appears after the user has accepted cookies.

"We take choice seriously," said product manager Elena Vogt. "Users who want to decline must first demonstrate that they understand acceptance, which we measure by accepting."

Clicking Decline before Accept produces a brief gray flash and returns the user to the same banner. Accepting once unlocks Decline for twelve seconds. After that, the banner resets.

"I accepted so I could decline," said web designer Paul Rivas. "Then I declined, and a second banner asked me to confirm that I had declined by accepting the confirmation cookies."

The vendor says the change improves compliance metrics, which it defines as the share of users who complete any button press at all. Completion is up 40 percent. Declines are also up, when measured in the twelve-second window.

Privacy advocates called the design "transparent." The vendor agreed, noting that the Accept button is now larger and more transparent than before.

At press time, the vendor reported thousands of declines, all of which were filed under Accepted.