December 2021 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 151 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in December.
• Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Consumer Durables & Apparel were targeted most.
• 3 Plaintiffs filed 40% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• LAW OFFICE OF JONATHAN P. RUBIN, PLLC filed the most complaints in December with 34 lawsuits in New York.
• Most lawsuits (72%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 27%
• We detected that 11% of litigated websites in December are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

 

Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Consumer Durables & Apparel were targeted most in December with a combined total of 74 lawsuits (thats 49.01%)

Most lawsuits (72%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 27%

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 11% of litigated websites in December 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

JUAN ORTEGA is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 34 lawsuits in December.

LAW OFFICE OF JONATHAN P. RUBIN, PLLC filed the most complaints in December with 34 lawsuits in New York. GOTTLIEB & ASSOCIATES came in second place with 27 filings in New York.