Click here to Download and View the PDF.
Because you've downloaded this report, we also want to invite you to a special webinar on Jan 27 at 12 pm ET.
New Law Report: Download 2021 Year-End Report
We have an updated law report that reflects the trends of 2021 and helps you prepare for the rest of 2022. Get your copy now!
Below is a full text description of our ADA Digital Accessibility Lawsuit report to help all users:
Tile 1: ADA Digital Accessibility Lawsuits – Websites, Mobile, Apps, Video
Image Description: Design features a laptop, smart phone, and desktop. Each have an orange screen with the outline of a person within a blue circle.
Text Reads: The UsableNet research team monitors and documents all digital accessibility related lawsuits where a website, mobile app or video content is the subject of a claim in federal court under the ADA or in California state court under the Unruh Act. The following report outlines key trends found during 2020 in these types of cases. Data and images can be shared when referencing UsableNet as a source and linking to our website
Tile 2: Yearly Trend of ADA Related Digital Lawsuits
Image Description: Horizontal bar graph shows an increase in digital accessibility lawsuits from 2018 to 2020. At the top of the graph is 2018 with 2,314 cases, below 2018 is 2019 with 2,890 cases, and last is 2020 with 3,550 cases. Above the graph it says “23% increase in 2020. Almost 10 lawsuits every business day.”
Text reads: ADA related cases in 2020 increased by 23% over 2019. This includes cases filed in federal court and those filed in California state court under the Unruh Act with a direct reference to violation of the ADA.
Tile 3: The COVID-19 Effect
Image Description: Bar graph shows how COVID-19 influenced the number of lawsuits filed in 2020. The graph begins with January having 284. February has 267. March has 228. April has 129. May has 189. June has 231. July has 330. August has 384. September has 356. October has 33. November has 332. Finally, December has 487. There is a trend line that increases through the months.
Text reads: The lockdown in states such as New York affected filing numbers during the initial lockdown period. After July, plaintiffs increased the rate of filing. By the end of 2020, lawsuits increased by over 50% above the pre-pandemic rate of filing.
Tile 4: Industry Analysis
Image Description: Pie chart that depicts the industries that had the most lawsuits. The largest piece of the pie chart is Retail with 77.55%, followed by Other with 14.68% and Food Service with 7.77%. Beneath the pie chart is each industry and that industry's corresponding percentage rates. At the top of the list is Retail with 77.55%, followed by Food Service with 7.77%. Other has 3.38%. Education has 2.45%. Entertainment & Leisure has 1.44%. Banking/Financial has 1.38%. Insurance holds 1.32%. Healthcare makes up 1.21%. Travel/Hospitality accounts for 1.04%. Automotive makes up 0.99%. Digital Media & Agencies have 0.68%. Fitness & Wellness has 0.39%. Real Estate Agencies & Properties holds. with 0.31%. Telecommunications has 0.08%. of lawsuits. Above the chart is a statement reads, “Retailers were cited the most in digital accessibility lawsuits. Food Service surpassed Entertainment and Leisure year over year. Education made the top 5 for the first time.”
Text reads: Retail continued to be the number one targeted industry with almost 2000 retailers being sued in 2020. The Food Service Industry moved up to the number two spot in 2020 adding to an already tough year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Tile 5: Multiple Lawsuits, Same Brand
Image Description: The design includes a shopping bag, webpage, t-shirt, and smartphone overlapping each other. Below the design the image reads “over 20% of lawsuits in 2020 were filed against a company that had already been sued at least once in the past two years.” Below the statement are two pie charts, one for 2020 and the other for 2019. Each of them includes the total number of companies sued in the respected year. It also include how many of them were sued more than once. In 2020, 3,550 companies were sued and 651 were sued multiple times. In 2019, 2,890 companies were sued and 496 were sued multiple times.
Text reads: Companies and brands are receiving multiple ADA related lawsuits. Sometimes the first is for a website and then for a mobile app. Other times the second is for an extra brand website, or in some cases the same website is targeted again by a different plaintiff. In short, if you are not accessible you are not safe from another lawsuit.
Tile 6: Top States in 2020
Image Description: Map that shows the states with the most cases in the US. Each of the major states has a dot that varies in size. The dots go by a scale reference of 200 cases. Below the map is a list of the states from most to least cases. The list begins with New York with 1,756 cases, or 49.46% of the total. Following is California with 989 cases or 27.86%. Florida has 542 cases or 15.27%. Pennsylvania has 187 cases or 5.27%, Illinois has 32 cases or 0.90%. Massachusetts has 25 cases or 0.70%, Connecticut has 12 cases or 0.34%. Finally, Indiana has 7 cases or 0.20%.
Text reads: The top three states make up over 90% of cases. The filing state does not represent where defendants live. A company can receive lawsuits in any state where that company does business.
Tile 7: Leading ADA Law Firms
Image Description: Above the image a statement reads “70% of all cases are brought by only 10 Plaintiff Law Firms.” Below is a table that compares defendant lawyers, on the left, to plaintiff lawyers, on the right. Beneath the term defendant lawyers there is a quote. It reads, “We will defend you, but you should be accessible. ” Under the plaintiff lawyer side of the chart it reads “We will sue you if you do not provide an accessible website.” The table then compares the top ten defendant lawyers to plaintiff lawyers from one to ten. Starting at number one on the left for defendant lawyers is Dentons US LLP with 81 cases. Following are Jackson Lewis P.C. with 67 cases. Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart P.C. had 60 cases. Morgan, Lewis, Bockius LLP has 48. Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has 41 cases. Seyfarth Shaw LLP has 30. O’Hagan Meyer LLC has 27. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has 26. Littler Mendelson P.C. has 26. Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, LLP has 17. Number one on the right for plaintiff lawyers is Pacific Trial Attorneys with 395 cases. Following are Stein Saks, PLLC with 371 cases, Cohen & Mizrahi LLP with 286. Jeffrey A. Gottlieb, ESQ. has 238. Chunningam Law PLLC has 222. Mars Khaimov Law, PLLC has 189. Beverly Hills Trial Attorneys P.C. has 173. Shaked Law Group, P.C. has 148. Wilshire Law Firm has 148. Nye, Stirling, Hale & Miller, LLP has 108. Beneath the table, two columns compare the total of the defendant lawyers, on the left, to the total number of the plaintiff lawyers, on the right. The column on the left reads 423 cases and the column on the right reads 2,278.
Text reads: More than 1,000 different lawyers across hundreds of law firms work as defense for active ADA-based web and app accessibility cases. Only a small group of law firms represent the majority of plaintiffs.
Tile 8: Digital Targets Expanding
Image Description: Design features a smartphone, tablet, computer monitor, and television. Above the design, a statement reads, "Lawsuits in 2020 reflect the importance of considering accessibility for all digital channels and content”. Below the design is a chart that lists the digital channels that have the most claims in order from most to least. At the top of the chart is desktop websites with 3,235 claims. Mobile apps has 296 claims. There were 150 claims related to video accessibility. Combined web & app related lawsuits received 16 claims. There were three claims based on inaccessible mobile websites.
Text reads: Desktop Websites dominate the overall number of lawsuit claims. Mobile Apps continue receive attention. Video content also recived claims of ADA violations. Video lawsuits request that all videos have closed caption and audio descriptions.
Tile 9: Widgets and Overlays Offer No Guarantees
Image Description: Webpage design reads “Lawsuits filed against companies using overlays or widgets for accessibility reach one-a-day by end of 2020.” Bar chart shows the number of lawsuits against companies with widgets and overlays from July through December 2020. July had 18 cases, August had 27, September had 25, October had 32, November had 29, and December had 47.
Text reads: More than 250 lawsuits were filed in 2020 against companies using widgets or overlays as an accessibility solution for their websites. The last 6 months of 2020 shows a significant increase in cases filed with the rate eclipsing more than one a day.
Tile 10: Get a free evaluation of your website against the latest accessibility standard (WCAG 2.1)
Image Description: Orange Box with hypertext link that reads “Test with UsableNet AQA”
Text reads: Methodology - The UsableNet research team reviews all lawsuits filed in Federal Courts under the ADA and in California State Court under Unruh. The cases are reviewed to identify ones where a digital property, including websites, mobile apps and video are the subject of the claim. This allows UsableNet to keep our clients informed and provides them with the most up-to-date advice for planning their digital accessibility initiatives. Source - Data is based on UsableNet’s research team’s collection across multiple legal sources. Total year numbers are based on 50 weeks of collected data plus trends based on previous data collected in last two weeks of year. Why UsableNet? - We make ADA web compliance easier and faster. Learn why website accessibility matters, and how UsableNet can help. Go to UsableNet.com
*PDF Accessibility credit: Viscardi Document Remediation Services