In our exclusive UsableNet Webinar, "ADA Website Lawsuits in 2020: Insights and Trends," we dug deep into the facts and trends from our 2019 ADA Website Lawsuit report to gain further insight into the accessibility litigation landscape, and where it’s headed in 2020 and beyond.
Lawsuits over website accessibility have increased exponentially year over year since 2016. In 2016, there were 262 cases. But by 2019, that number had ballooned to 2,235.
Until 2017, the Department of Justice (DOJ) joined many lawsuits on the side of the plaintiff. This helped to establish that websites and apps are subject to the ADA.
Several top industries are targeted for ADA website accessibility and inclusion issues. The four most targeted include:
The retail industry is a powerful economic engine. We depend on online shopping more than ever before, and because of this, it’s more important than ever that everyone is able to access retail websites.
Half of the ADA lawsuits that are filed are large companies and brands that bring in $100 million or more in annual revenue. These companies tend to get hit with repeat lawsuits frequently. It’s incredibly important that companies prioritize accessibility and begin making changes quickly.
Plaintiffs’ firms don’t allow a brand to settle across all brands and apps, so there’s typically a lawsuit for each sub-brand or app. The larger the company, the more likely they’re going to experience multiple ADA lawsuits.
Some ADA lawsuit claims are filed more often than others. The most common lawsuit claims we’ve found in our research include:
To protect your organization, it’s critical to start taking steps immediately to make your website fully accessible.
Looking for a download to share with your team? We break digital accessibility down into 4 stages. Get our complete, actionable checklist now>>
In the short term, it’s important to try to reduce your legal risk. This may be done by:
In the medium term, you should focus on remediating sites and apps. Here are some of the basic steps you may need to take:
In the long term, maintain and document the steps you’ve taken to achieve accessibility and keep your website inclusive. Here’s what you may need to do:
Attention to online accessibility and inclusion is increasing significantly and will continue to do so in 2020. In this article, we detailed our predictions for the year. Here’s a quick recap:
Overall, we believe the digital world will become more accessible than ever in 2020 and beyond. With the influx of website accessibility lawsuits that have happened--and more coming on the horizon--it’s an issue that organizations will no longer be able to ignore.
To see the full webinar, ADA Website Lawsuits in 2020: Insights and Trends presented by Jason Taylor, click here.