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In 2020, a blind buyer named Juan Alcazar filed a lawsuit in opposition to Vogue Nova, alleging that the corporate’s web site was inaccessible and denied blind clients the identical entry as everybody else.
It was, in some ways, an unusual internet accessibility lawsuit. One in all many filed in federal courtroom that yr. Most ended the identical approach: administration distraction, a pledge to repair accessibility points, authorized charges after which a five-figure settlement.
However this case didn’t settle. Vogue Nova fought it.
5 years and greater than 200 filings later, they agreed to pay $5.15 million to settle what had turn out to be a category motion lawsuit. The declare developed from a single grievance into the second-largest accessibility settlement on document, surpassed solely by Goal’s $6 million settlement in 2008.
It’s a stark reminder of how shortly an accessibility declare can escalate, and why each enterprise chief ought to deal with that danger as actual, pressing, and solvable.
Accessibility lawsuits are rising. So is danger.
Since 2020, the variety of internet accessibility lawsuits has steadily risen. In 2024, over 4,000 lawsuits had been filed in america. And people are simply the circumstances that attain courtroom. Behind the scenes, demand letters are much more prevalent, with a number of sources, together with Accessibility.com, estimating that over 250,000 letters are despatched to companies yearly.
Usually, these fits hinge on widespread accessibility points, corresponding to lacking alt textual content or unlabeled varieties. Below legal guidelines just like the People with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, plaintiffs don’t have to show intent or vital hurt. Merely encountering a barrier is sufficient.
Accessibility compliance isn’t only a U.S. concern, both. The European Accessibility Act (EAA) took impact in July 2025, increasing accessibility obligations to any enterprise providing digital services or products within the EU, together with corporations positioned outdoors the EU, impacting international manufacturers.
And whereas many assume that solely giant corporations are topic to authorized danger, in 2024, almost three-quarters of internet accessibility lawsuits focused small and mid-sized companies.
For billion-dollar manufacturers like Vogue Nova, there’s at all times the choice to dig in and combat an accessibility declare. Nevertheless, for smaller companies, the danger of a protracted authorized battle and a considerable settlement might be too excessive. Settling shortly is usually perceived because the ‘protected’ selection — a indisputable fact that corporations specializing in serial litigation are all too conscious of.
Make accessibility a primary line of protection
Accessibility lawsuits have a sample: as soon as an organization is sued, it’s more likely to be sued once more. Accessibility.com additionally reviews that in 2024, 48% of defendants had beforehand been sued for internet accessibility boundaries.
That’s why good danger administration isn’t nearly having a plan to reply. It’s about decreasing the possibilities of being on somebody’s radar within the first place. And that begins with a course of for locating and fixing accessibility points earlier than they’re delivered to consideration in a requirement letter or authorized declare:
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Set up a baseline of web site accessibility through the use of automated scans at the side of human opinions.
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Prioritize high-severity boundaries, or these almost definitely to spark a declare, and deal with them promptly.
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Constantly monitor web sites to seek out and repair points earlier than they turn out to be liabilities.
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Doc progress to show ongoing enchancment if questioned.
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Combine accessibility into on a regular basis workflows, making accessibility a part of organizational tradition.
A scalable strategy to accessibility compliance
AudioEye’s 2025 Digital Accessibility Index analyzed over 15,000 web sites throughout completely different industries. The typical website had 297 accessibility points per web page — together with severe issues like unlabeled buttons or damaged type fields.
Fixing a couple of accessibility points may sound manageable. However when there are dozens of internet pages, every with a whole bunch of distinctive points, it shortly turns into an operational nightmare.
The largest problem is serving clients whereas addressing numerous accessibility points. Counting on builders to seek out and repair a whole bunch of points per web page is difficult sufficient. Nonetheless, groups additionally must deal with the truth that every website replace presents an opportunity to introduce new boundaries inadvertently. Automation helps, however no automated software can discover and repair every little thing (it doesn’t matter what some accessibility corporations declare of their advertising campaigns).
The simplest strategy blends automation and human experience to:
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Scale detection and prevention: Let automation do the heavy lifting, scanning websites in actual time and fixing new points as they seem.
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Sort out complicated fixes: Depend on consultants to check key pages and repair the high-risk points that automation can’t deal with by itself.
With these items in place, organizations can forestall severe accessibility points from accumulating, whereas making websites a lot safer from authorized claims. That’s danger administration in motion: not scrambling after the actual fact, however planning forward with the best instruments, experience, and processes in place.
The price of doing nothing
Even the smallest internet accessibility declare can disrupt companies. Settlements could vary from a couple of thousand {dollars} to 6 figures. Nonetheless, the precise value extends past this: authorized charges, time spent resolving points, and government focus being diverted from different priorities.
After which there’s the larger danger: escalation. Alcazar v. Vogue Nova, Inc. received’t be the final giant accessibility settlement. Nevertheless, it serves as a transparent reminder of what can occur when an accessibility declare snowballs into one thing a lot bigger.
The businesses that handle danger finest aren’t excellent. However they know the place they stand. They will present progress. And when a declare is available in, they know how one can reply.
Accessibility could not really feel like a danger right now. But when organizations wait till it does, it’s already too late.
Deal with it like what it’s: a enterprise danger price managing — earlier than it turns into a enterprise danger that may’t be ignored.
David Moradi is CEO of Audioeye.
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