January 2023 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 173 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in January.
• Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Health Care Equipment & Services were targeted most.
• 7 Plaintiffs filed 41% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• MIZRAHI KROUB LLP filed the most complaints in January with 41 lawsuits in New York.
• Most lawsuits (78%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 19%
• We detected that 23% of litigated websites in January are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

 

Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Health Care Equipment & Services were targeted most in January with a combined total of 77 lawsuits (thats 44.51%)

Most lawsuits (78%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 19%

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 23% of litigated websites in January 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

DANIEL RODRIGUEZ is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 17 lawsuits in January.

MIZRAHI KROUB LLP filed the most complaints in January with 41 lawsuits in New York. STEIN SAKS, PLLC came in second place with 30 filings in New York.