2024 Digital Accessibility Lawsuits in Review
Any business that has been in the crosshairs of a digital accessibility lawsuit knows that federal law plays a critical role in shaping the ecommerce landscape for consumers with low or no vision. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which had a similar impact on moving the brick-and-mortar world toward an inclusive environment, has different compliance requirements in the context of online commerce, but its mission and outcome are the same- pushing more and more businesses to achieve targeted accessibility goals. Not only is this life-changing for low and no-vision consumers, but it’s also wildly beneficial to the businesses, too.
Digital Accessibility Lawsuits
How is the ADA enforced online? In two key ways: (1) regulatory fines levied against businesses that don’t comply, and (2) lawsuits filed by individuals, groups, or advocacy organizations devoted to improving compliance metrics, one website at a time.
In 2024, there were an estimated 4000+ digital accessibility lawsuits filed against online businesses, with over half of them targeting businesses that failed to comply with the ADA and the remaining relying on equivalent laws at the state level. This is approximately the same number of lawsuits as the amount filed in 2023, but the push toward state-level protections was greater in 2024.
Accessibility Challenges By Platforms
A unique feature of online commerce is the variety of platforms through which consumers can engage with businesses. Among the two most common are websites and mobile apps. Let’s take a look at some of the common accessibility challenges present in each of these.
Web Accessibility
Those with low or no vision encounter a host of problems when trying to navigate non-compliant websites, but among the top challenges are:
• Missing alt text. This is a textual explanation that accompanies an image. By providing alt text, screen readers and other assistive technology can create a spoken “visual” of the image in question, allowing users with low or no vision to understand that context and import of the image.
• Inaccessible navigation. When headings aren’t structured well or pop ups inadvertently bounce users from the site, navigation becomes nearly impossible for low and no vision users. Just moving from the homepage to the checkout can be an insurmountable task.
• Inadequate color contrast. For low vision users, sharp and distinctive color contrast is a critical feature that enhances navigation and understanding. Similarly, the reliance on color contrast alone to highlight messaging or layout is not helpful. Other distinct visual clues are needed.
Mobile Apps
Mobile apps bring additional design and usability challenges for everyone, including those with low and no vision, including:
• Size: Frequently, in mobile apps, the small size of buttons and links is difficult to work with. This problem is significantly heightened for people with vision challenges.
• Resizing: Features allowing for direct interface with the content, like pinching and zooming with finger contact, are especially problematic for people with low or no vision.
Legal Trends at the State Level
Not surprisingly, through the recent push toward accessibility litigation, a clear pattern emerged. State filings made up a whopping 40% of the accessibility lawsuits in 2024. Specifically, New York, California, and Florida saw the highest number of filings, by a significant margin. Potential reasons for the concentration of lawsuits in these states is (1) they are among the most populous states, (2) CA and NY have strong state-level accessibility protections, and (3) some law firms may strategize that there’s a greater chance of success in certain state courts over federal courts.
How Digital Accessibility Lawsuits are Usually Settled
ADA or accessibility lawsuits are unique in that the plaintiffs are not just looking for compensation for harm suffered. They’re also looking for specific mitigation efforts.
ADA compliance cases are usually initiated with a demand letter. This is a letter sent by a website or mobile app user to the host business, alleging that the website or app is inaccessible and, therefore, in violation of the ADA. It will offer details about accessibility impediments, demand ADA compliance, and may demand restitution or compensation for harm suffered. These letters are not a lawsuit, but they are the precursor to a lawsuit and can escalate to litigation if not addressed.
Businesses looking to avoid litigation, will begin an out-of-court negotiation process. This process will involve the discussion of (1) compliance agreements (identifying accessibility impediments and agreeing to fix them), (2) remediation timelines (how long it will take for the work to be completed), (3) compensation for any actual harm suffered, and (4) ongoing monitoring.
While potentially not as expensive as litigation, the entire negotiation and settlement process still requires the cost of engaging legal counsel and website designers, and potentially making payouts.
If the case proceeds to litigation, the costs and fees can rise exponentially. And, notably, cases are not limited to the state in which a business is headquartered, but rather may be brought in any state in which a user resides and is harmed. In other words, a low or no vision user accessing your website where they live in California or New York can file a lawsuit in their state of residence.
Average Settlement Amounts
The average settlement amount for a digital accessibility lawsuit is approximately $25,000. However, this amount is heavily dependent on the size of the business at issue, the extent and variety of the accessibility barriers across the various platforms, the extent of the damage sustained by the plaintiff, and other variables. Digital accessibility lawsuits have settled for amounts in excess of $100,000 to $1,000,000.
Conclusion
The trends for 2024 continued the momentum of prior years in the ecommerce sector. Plaintiffs law firms are hyper-focusing on ADA violations and leveraging strong state protections to target businesses in an effort to advance accessibility from the ground up. Is it inevitable that every online business will face a lawsuit or regulatory fine for failing to meet ADA compliance standards? Of course not. There are too many websites and too little time. Is it increasingly likely that larger and larger percentages of online businesses will be hit with lawsuits and regulatory fines? Yes. Will many be subject to repeat lawsuits? Yes. The statistics are clear on this.
So, deciding whether to embrace digital accessibility is something that every online business must face, but it should take all variables into account. What do we mean by that? We mean that digital accessibility is about avoiding lawsuits and regulatory fines, yes, but also so much more.
Becoming ADA compliant doesn’t just prevent your online business from having to write checks to lawyers, plaintiffs, and government agencies. It doesn’t just prevent hard earned profits averaging $25,000 and maxing out at over $1,000,000 from being drained from your business. It also brings a host of other smart business benefits that make proactive investment the clear winner. These additional benefits include a boost in SEO rankings, bigger customer reach and brand growth, and lucrative tax breaks.
Does it matter who you give your money to in your effort to become ADA compliant? Absolutely. Investing in quick fixes like overlays or fully automated digital audits frequently leaves businesses just as vulnerable to lawsuits and regulatory fines and doesn’t harness the additional benefits. At AllyADA, our digital accessibility audits are built by real people for real results. We use an industry-leading combination of advanced software analysis and manual review by CPACC-certified accessibility specialists and low and no vision users. Our digital accessibility audits deliver what they promise.
Don’t become part of the statistics for 2025. Get ADA compliant. Reap the rewards.
Call now to speak with one of our specialists and get started today.