Clym released a new analysis highlighting a widening accessibility gap across the U.S. digital ecosystem. The 2024 WebAIM Million study found that 95.9 percent of major website homepages failed basic accessibility checks. This trend is drawing increased attention from regulators, legal experts, and technology teams responsible for digital operations.
The regulatory landscape shifted in April 2024 when the U.S. Department of Justice issued its final ADA Title II rule adopting WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for public-sector websites and mobile applications. Public entities serving populations of 50,000 or more must comply by April 2026, with smaller jurisdictions following in 2027. Industry attorneys note that federal adoption of technical criteria often influences expectations for private organizations in the long term.
Legal pressure continues to intensify. More than 4,000 accessibility-related lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts in 2024, a number that experts expect to increase. Meanwhile, states have developed their own regulations in the absence of a unified federal standard for private businesses, creating a patchwork of requirements that vary by jurisdiction.
Common misconceptions continue to contribute to accessibility failures. Many organizations believe visually functional websites automatically work with screen readers or keyboard-only navigation, despite evidence showing otherwise. Federal courts and the Department of Justice have made clear that commercial websites fall under accessibility obligations even without explicit statutory language.
Automated testing tools identify some issues but remain limited in scope. Many barriers require human judgment to evaluate meaningful alternative text, logical hierarchy, or predictable component behavior. As a result, organizations often need both automated and manual testing methods to understand their true accessibility posture.
Businesses often begin with free diagnostic tools to gain visibility into accessibility risks, and Clym’s Web Accessibility Scanner provides an initial snapshot by identifying issues such as missing alternative text, color contrast failures, and unlabeled form fields.
Some organizations also offer user-facing tools to support more flexible browsing experiences, and Clym’s Accessibility Widget gives visitors options like adjusting text size or contrast based on personal preference. While these features do not resolve underlying accessibility issues, they can offer a more comfortable experience for users as teams work on long-term improvements.
Organizations that require deeper analysis can use Clym’s open-source Accessibility Testing Suite. The suite supports comprehensive evaluations across entire websites or individual pages, combining automated WCAG checks with guided procedures for manual testing. It also enables teams to test in different environments, from development to production, and generates standardized reports such as WCAG-EM, ATAG, and all VPAT variations.
This integrated testing approach helps teams embed accessibility into ongoing development workflows rather than treating it as a separate compliance task. Other automated scanning tools, including those from the Bureau of Internet Accessibility, remain available, though experts emphasize that automation alone captures only a fraction of real-world barriers. Manual validation remains essential for determining whether digital experiences are usable for people with disabilities.
Accessibility improvements create benefits beyond risk reduction. With 26 percent of U.S. adults living with a disability and more than half having internet access at home, inaccessible websites exclude millions of potential users. Research suggests that websites with stronger accessibility performance often see improvements in engagement and revenue.
As federal standards evolve and state-level regulations expand, the pressure to prioritize accessibility continues to grow. Litigation trends reinforce the need for proactive action, rather than reactive responses to legal complaints. Organizations that invest in accessibility today can create more inclusive digital environments and support a better experience for all users.
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