January 2024 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 128 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in January.
• Food, Beverage & Tobacco, Consumer Durables & Apparel and Retailing were targeted most.
• 5 Plaintiffs filed 43% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• STEIN SAKS, PLLC filed the most complaints in January with 35 lawsuits in New York.
• Most lawsuits (64%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 18%
• We detected that 7% of litigated websites in January are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

 

Food, Beverage & Tobacco, Consumer Durables & Apparel and Retailing were targeted most in January with a combined total of 100 lawsuits (thats 78.13%)

Most lawsuits (64%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 18%

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 7% 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

ALI COLAK is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 15 lawsuits in January.

STEIN SAKS, PLLC filed the most complaints in January with 35 lawsuits in New York. MANNING LAW, APC came in second place with 17 filings in California.