March 2022 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 228 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in March.
• Consumer Staples, Retailing and Consumer Durables & Apparel were targeted most.
• 9 Plaintiffs filed 42% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS, APC filed the most complaints in March with 54 lawsuits in California.
• Most lawsuits (57%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 38%
• We detected that 4% of litigated websites in March are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

 

Consumer Staples, Retailing and Consumer Durables & Apparel were targeted most in March with a combined total of 102 lawsuits (thats 44.74%)

Most lawsuits (57%) were filed in New York with California coming in second at 38%

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 4% of litigated websites in March 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

RUSTY RENDON is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 21 lawsuits in March.

PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS, APC filed the most complaints in March with 54 lawsuits in California. MIZRAHI KROUB LLP came in second place with 50 filings in New York.