2024 Roundup: Digital Accessibility Trends, Legal Challenges, and Insights

Though digital accessibility still has a very long road to travel before it becomes the norm in the ecommerce industry, 2024 signalled some meaningful improvements that point to a more inclusive future and clarify how to get there. We discuss the trends, legal challenges, and insights that you need to know to keep up with the state of digital accessibility and ADA-compliance.

Insights From The Year

Let’s explore the most noteworthy insights from 2024:

1.Full accessibility and ADA compliance is stuck at 2%.

Looking back on the statistics from our ongoing research, the outlook for accessibility is still somewhat bleak as a whole, with only 2% of websites achieving Americans with Disabilities (ADA) compliance, 40% remaining semi-accessible, and nearly 60% remaining inaccessible. This 2 % ADA compliance rate was consistent throughout the year. You can find our year-end statistical analysis at the end of this post.

2.Two categories of service sector websites are standouts.

Two service sectors showed an overall trend toward improvement. In the categories of Hotels and Restaurants, the percentage of fully accessible websites improved throughout the year. Given the tremendous utility and importance of websites for hotels and restaurants, this is a very positive trend that we hope continues.

3. Use of widgets is on the decline.

As we discussed in our last post, 2024 saw a sharp movement from the global community against the use of widgets. Why Digital Accessibility Overlays Fall Short: The Truth Behind Quick Fixes. Over 1,000 leading accessibility professionals and thought leaders from a variety of industries, organizations, governments, and academic disciplines issued a treatise against the use of widgets as an accessibility quick-fix. In response, the heavily saturated widget market declined.

4. Use of digital auditing services is on the rise.

With widgets seen as a less effective (and sometimes even more disruptive) route to accessibility, digital auditing services are being recognized as the go-to option for real, comprehensive results. As an industry leader in this field, AllyADA applauds the movement toward ADA compliance and the use of auditing as the path forward.

5. The first big lawsuit against a key widget company was filed.

A popular and well-known accessibility brand and widget maker was targeted in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of businesses who felt they were intentionally misled by the marketing of this widget. Specifically, they argue that the marketing and promotion of this widget made it appear as though the widget could actually resolve digital accessibility issues and would, therefore, serve as a shield to ADA non-compliance lawsuits. 

However, instead, the businesses that purchased, installed, and used this widget found that their websites were still not functionally accessible, that some accessibility problems worsened, and that they were, in fact, even more vulnerable to accessibility lawsuits.  The misdeeds alleged include:

• False and Misleading Advertising: This key player in the widget world was accused of  misrepresenting the effectiveness of its "overlay" products, particularly one specific widget marketed as a quick and automated solution to achieve ADA compliance and achieve WCAG standards. The widget was advertised as being able to automatically adjust a website’s code to meet WCAG standards within 48 hours to protect businesses from ADA-related lawsuits.
• Inaccuracy of Claims: At the heart of the lawsuit is the allegation that it is simply not true that use of this widget will make a website ADA compliant or meet WCAG standards. While the widget adds a line of code and offers certain accessibility features, it does not address many key accessibility issues, leaving websites still non-compliant. In some cases, the widget even hinders accessibility for users with disabilities by interfering with essential assistive technologies like screen readers.
• Impact on Businesses: It is also alleged that those businesses using the widget in question are more likely to be sued for ADA violations, rather than being shielded from lawsuits as promised. The widget’s use may be perceived as an attempt at ADA compliance, yet it does not meet the required standards, making businesses vulnerable to legal action. In other words, people seeking accessible websites are directly harmed by the charade of accessibility and this negatively impacts the business. 
• Deceptive Business Practices: The widget maker allegedly engaged in deceptive business practices by making exaggerated claims about its product’s efficacy. The company markets its widget as a cost-effective, automated alternative to the labor-intensive process of manually remediating a website for ADA compliance. However, the widget doesn’t fulfill the promises made, leaving businesses exposed to legal and financial risks.
• Legal and Financial Harm to Customers: The businesses bringing the lawsuit allege that they purchased the widget maker’s subscription service and installed its widget, only to be exposed to costly ADA lawsuits. They seek restitution for the money spent on the widget, damages for the financial harm suffered, and injunctive relief to stop the widget maker’s deceptive practices.

Summary of Our Findings for 2024

We engaged with 7901 websites during 2024 to determine each website's level of ADA website accessibility compliance and draw conclusions about the categories of common accessibility issues present. 

Of the websites tested, the results were as follows:  

Inaccessible: A total of 4641 websites tested (58%) were deemed inaccessible to blind and visually impaired users due to a failure to provide accessible core information about products or a failure to allow blind or visually impaired users to complete a purchase. This means the website lacked basic functionality or usability for blind or visually impaired users.    

Semi-Accessible: A total of 3073 websites tested (40%) were deemed semi-accessible. This means the websites were minimally accessible to blind and visually impaired users who were able to navigate from the homepage to the checkout with at least a base-level understanding of what they were buying.  

Fully Accessible: 187 websites tested (2%) were deemed to provide the level of access to information and navigation features necessary to comply with the ADA. This means that blind and visually impaired users were able to obtain all pertinent information about products, locations, and working hours and were able to find specific products, make selections for size and color, understand the purpose of each formfield, or book a table and select the time.  

Widget Accessibility: Only a total of 494 websites tested (or 6%) were deemed accessible with the use of widgets. A total of 741 websites tested (or 9%) were deemed inaccessible with the use of widgets.  

Most Common Categories of Websites with Accessibility Issues

Among the sites tested, the top categories of websites not in compliance with ADA-accessibility requirements are retail and service sites. 

The overall breakdown of non-compliant websites showed that the majority (58%) fell into the “Retail” category, followed by the “Service” category (26%) and “other” (16%). Retail websites are those devoted to the sale of physical goods and products, regardless of the nature of the goods. Service websites are those devoted to the provision of a specified service, such as digital accessibility auditing, a law firm, or a delivery service. “Other” includes things like municipal sites and similar that are informational rather than engaged in commerce.

Taking an even closer look, the most non-compliant websites within the retail category were Apparel (25%), Groceries (8%), Perfume (4%), Jewelry (8%), Pet (3%), Sports (2%), and Electronics (7%). The most non-compliant websites within the service categories were Hotels (5%), Restaurants (14%), Cleaning (1%), and Clinics (7%). 

Manual Audits Work. Period.

So, for businesses operating within the ecommerce space (which is most businesses these days), what is the key takeaway from 2024? The evidence is clear that manual audits work, deliver the benefits they promise, and will be the path forward for an ever-increasing number of businesses in 2025 and beyond.

First, our own analytical review of accessibility issues across industries throughout 2024 confirms that ADA-non compliance continues to plague the ecommerce industry at an alarming rate. 

Second, global consensus by accessibility professionals across industries and sectors is adamantly against the use of widgets to fix accessibility barriers. Why? Because they don’t work. 

Third, the class action lawsuit against a popular widget maker demonstrates this pattern of overall widget failure. Inaccessible online businesses are not only vulnerable to lawsuits and regulatory fines, but now they’re also vulnerable to exploitation by companies promising quick fixes. Accessibility widgets have proven to be little more than a mirage. 

Thankfully, digital auditing services using manual review are increasingly popular because they actually work. And because manual audits work, ADA-compliance is achievable, lawsuit protection is real, and the only thing online businesses using manual auditing have to do going forward is enjoy being in the flow of outsized business benefits.