The ADA Lawsuit Wave Is Not Slowing Down. Here's What Enterprises Need to Know.
ADA web lawsuits filed in 2023 -- a record
Increase since 2017
Reduction in time-to-compliance with continuous monitoring
Web accessibility lawsuits under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act have grown from 814 in 2017 to 4,605 in 2023 -- a 466% increase in six years. The 2024 figures are tracking higher. If you are a General Counsel, CISO, or VP of Engineering at a consumer-facing enterprise and you do not have a continuous accessibility monitoring programme, you are not managing risk. You are hoping.
The anatomy of a Title III claim
ADA Title III requires places of public accommodation -- which courts have consistently interpreted to include websites and mobile apps -- to provide equal access to people with disabilities. The most common claims involve screen reader incompatibility, missing alt text, inadequate keyboard navigation, and colour contrast failures.
The average ADA web accessibility lawsuit settlement is $35,000-$75,000 in legal fees alone, before any structural remediation costs. Enterprise defendants often face $500K+ total exposure when you include the consent decree monitoring requirements.
What a defensible programme looks like
A defensible accessibility programme has four components. First, continuous monitoring -- not quarterly audits. Every deploy must be scanned. Second, a current VPAT -- auto-generated and always reflecting the actual state of your digital estate. Third, an audit trail -- evidence that issues were identified, triaged, and remediated with appropriate speed. Fourth, a response capability -- the ability to generate a DOJ or OCR response package in hours, not weeks.