July 2021 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 176 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in July.
• Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Services and Food, Beverage & Tobacco were targeted most.
• 6 Plaintiffs filed 41% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• MANNING LAW, APC filed the most complaints in July with 29 lawsuits in California.
• Most lawsuits (47%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 45%
• We detected that 23% of litigated websites in July are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

 

Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Services and Food, Beverage & Tobacco were targeted most in July with a combined total of 76 lawsuits (thats 43.18%)

Most lawsuits (47%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 45%

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 23% of litigated websites in July 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 web pages. There has been an increase in the number of lawsuits against websites that use third-party overlays.

From June to July, the number of lawsuits against websites that have third-party overlays has increased sevenfold. 

Plaintiffs Who Filed the Most Lawsuits

KEVIN DAVIS is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 19 lawsuits in July.

MANNING LAW, APC filed the most complaints in July with 29 lawsuits in California. PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS came in second place with 24 filings in California.