October 2021 Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Information

• 162 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in October.
• Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Consumer Durables & Apparel were targeted most.
• 5 Plaintiffs filed 43% of the month's website accessibility lawsuits.
• PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS filed the most complaints in October with 44 lawsuits in California.
• Most lawsuits (46%) were filed in California with New York coming in second at 45%
• We detected that 16% of litigated websites in October are using a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool.

 

Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples and Consumer Durables & Apparel were targeted most in October with a combined total of 82 lawsuits (thats 50.61%)

Most lawsuits (46%) were filed in California with New York coming in second at 45%

Third-Party Overlays

We detected that 16% of litigated websites in October 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

ARTURO ESTEVEZ is the most litigious website accessibility plaintiff, filing 23 lawsuits in October.

PACIFIC TRIAL ATTORNEYS filed the most complaints in October with 44 lawsuits in California. GOTTLIEB & ASSOCIATES came in second place with 25 filings in New York.