August 2021 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 149 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in August.
• Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Software & Services were targeted most.
• 7 Plaintiffs filed 44% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS filed the most complaints in August with 36 lawsuits in California.
• Most lawsuits (54%) were filed in California with New York coming in second at 36%
• We detected that 19% of litigated websites in August are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Software & Services were targeted most in August with a combined total of 65 lawsuits (thats 43.63%)

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 19% of litigated websites in August are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

Typically overlays, or widgets, apply a third-party's source code to the existing webpage in an effort to change the user experience by overriding or altering elements of the page. Overlays are often used in-place of manual identification and resolution of accessibility barriers. Because such overlays try to hide underlying accessibility issues, their effectiveness is debated and their use seems to promote the idea that website operators need not concern themselves with the accessibility of their webpages. There has been an increase in the number of lawsuits against websites that use third-party overlays.

Plaintiffs Who Filed the Most Lawsuits

LUIS LICEA is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 17 lawsuits in August.

PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS filed the most complaints in August with 36 lawsuits in California. GOTTLIEB & ASSOCIATES came in second place with 20 filings in New York.