The 2026 Web Accessibility Statistics Report

Web accessibility is evolving rapidly, and the numbers reveal just how significant the challenge has become. This report compiles the most important web accessibility statistics, trends, and legal data in one place, providing a centralized and reliable resource for understanding the current state of digital accessibility.

94.8% of websites fail basic accessibility standards, and 5,114 ADA lawsuits were filed in 2025 alone. Globally, 1.3 billion people live with disabilities, yet inaccessible design is costing businesses billions in lost revenue. The stakes have never been higher. Companies now face repeat litigation, expanding legal exposure across federal and state courts, and increasing regulatory pressure in both the U.S. and Europe.

Whether you’re a developer, business owner, or compliance professional, these web accessibility statistics offer a clear picture of where accessibility stands today and what digital teams need to prepare for in 2026.

Global Accessibility Overview

Understanding who relies on accessible websites starts with the scale of disability worldwide. These global facts show why internet accessibility statistics matter.

• About 1.3 billion people, or 16% of the world’s population, live with a disability affecting daily life and online access. (World Health Organization, 2023)
• Over 2.2 billion people worldwide have vision impairments, so accessible design is essential for inclusion. (World Health Organization, 2026)
• Around 430 million people globally experience disabling hearing loss and depend on visual cues and written content. (World Health Organization, 2025)
• 5.56 billion people, 67.9% of the global population, used the internet in 2025. (DataReportal, 2025)
• 92.3% of internet users access the web through mobile devices, making mobile-friendly design essential for modern businesses. (We Are Social, 2023)

WCAG Compliance & Web Accessibility Audits

Despite increased public awareness, overall website accessibility compliance scores remain staggeringly low. Results of recent accessibility evaluation studies further illustrate the severity of this problem, showing only modest improvements in scores over time.

Overall Accessibility Failure Rates

• Only a fraction of the web meets basic standards; 94.8% of websites still have at least one detectable accessibility failure. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• On average, each homepage contains around 51 accessibility errors, multiple barriers for users with disabilities on every visit. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Across one million websites, researchers identified over 50 million distinct accessibility errors. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• 4.1% of all homepage elements had a detected error, and users with disabilities encounter barriers on 1 in every 24 page elements. (WebAIM Million, 2025)

Common WCAG Failures

• Low contrast text: 79.1% of homepages fail minimum color contrast requirements; for users with visual impairments, making text unreadable. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Missing alt text: 55.5% of homepages have no alternative text for images, and screen reader users are left without access to image-based content. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Missing form input labels: 48.2% of homepages have unlabeled form inputs, directly blocking users from completing essential online tasks. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Empty links: 45.4% of homepages contain empty or broken links: a flaw that confuses both visitors and assistive technologies during navigation. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Empty buttons: 29.6% of homepages have buttons with no descriptive text, entirely unusable from a screen reader perspective. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Missing document language: 15.8% of homepages lack a declared language tag; without it, assistive technologies cannot correctly process page content. (WebAIM Million, 2025)

Trends Over Time

• Detected accessibility errors decreased 10.3% since the 2024 analysis, which recorded an average of 56.8 errors per homepage. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• The overall WCAG failure rate improved from 95.9% in 2024 to 94.8% in 2025, though six-year gains total only 3.1%. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Homepage complexity grew 61% over six years, with pages now averaging 1,257 elements. (WebAIM Million, 2025)

Breakdown by Issue Type

Not all accessibility problems are created equal. These accessibility stats show which issues occur most often and why they’re such big barriers.

• Low-contrast text affected 79.1% of home pages, averaging 29.6 instances per page, and remained the top accessibility issue. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Missing alternative text affects 55.5% of pages; of those, 44% involve linked images, completely breaking navigation for screen reader users. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• One in every five linked images lacks alternative text; for blind and low-vision users, this makes image-based navigation completely inaccessible. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Skipped heading levels were present on 39% of all pages, a structural flaw that disrupts content navigation for users who rely on assistive technologies. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Empty or ambiguous link text appeared on 13.7% of pages with an average of 6.8 problematic link instances per page. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Pages using ARIA had over twice as many errors (57 on average) compared to pages without ARIA (27 on average). (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Just six error categories account for 96% of all detected accessibility failures, which means targeted fixes could deliver dramatic gains in overall web accessibility. (WebAIM Million, 2025)

Accessibility by Technology & Platforms

The choice of platform, CMS, and JavaScript framework has a measurable and sometimes dramatic impact on e-commerce accessibility and overall accessibility outcomes. The data below also highlights Shopify accessibility compared to other popular e-commerce and website platforms based on accessibility compliance and average error rates.

By eCommerce Platform

• Shopify-powered sites averaged 69.6 accessibility errors per homepage, 36.6% more than the overall sample average of 51 errors. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• WooCommerce sites averaged 75.6 errors per homepage, 48.4% above the overall average and one of the least accessible major platforms. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Magento performed worst among major eCommerce platforms, averaging 85.4 accessibility errors per homepage, 67.5% above the overall average. (WebAIM Million, 2025)

By CMS & Framework

• Webflow’s average of 28.4 errors per homepage is 44.3% below the overall average, putting it among the more accessible website-building platforms. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• WordPress, a widely used platform, averaged 50.0 errors per page, just beneath the overall sample average. (WebAIM Million, 2025)
• Next.js pages averaged 38.6 errors, 24.2% below the average, and outperformed most popular JavaScript frameworks on accessibility metrics. (WebAIM Million, 2025)

Business Impact & User Behavior

Poor accessibility is not just an ethical failure; it’s a business risk. These accessibility data points show exactly how inaccessibility drives user abandonment, lost revenue, and missed opportunities at scale.

• People with disabilities in the U.S. hold nearly half a trillion dollars in disposable income, not accounting for the spending of their families, friends, and advocates. (Accenture, 2023)
• Companies leading in disability inclusion generate 1.6 times more revenue, 2.6 times more net income, and 2 times more economic profit than peers. (Accenture, 2023)
• 69% of disabled online consumers click away from websites they find difficult to use due to their disability. (Click-Away Pound Survey, 2019)
• 83% of disabled users limit their shopping exclusively to sites they already know are accessible. (Click-Away Pound Survey, 2019)

Legal & Compliance Statistics

Digital accessibility lawsuits are rising year over year, with enforcement expanding across states, industries, and company sizes. These legal and compliance stats show a litigation environment where partial fixes and accessibility overlay widgets offer no real legal protection.

• 5,114 ADA digital accessibility lawsuits were filed nationwide in 2025 across federal and state courts. (UsableNet, 2025)
• Federal courts accounted for 3,195 cases (62%) while state courts in New York and California handled 1,919 cases (38%) in 2025. (UsableNet, 2025)
• 1,427 lawsuits in 2025 targeted companies that had already been sued, representing 45% of all federal accessibility filings. (UsableNet, 2025)
• 36% of companies sued in the first half of 2025 reported annual revenue exceeding $25 million, up from 33% in 2024. (UsableNet, 2025)
• eCommerce accounted for 70% of all ADA digital accessibility lawsuits in 2025, with food service (21%) and healthcare (2%) also targeted. (UsableNet, 2025)
• Accessibility overlay widgets did not reduce litigation in 2025; lawsuits against companies already using these tools continued to rise month over month. (UsableNet, 2025)

The numbers don’t lie. Accessibility failures are rampant, lawsuits are growing, and the market opportunity is huge. For businesses online, acting on this data isn’t optional; it’s necessary for growth, compliance, and staying competitive in 2026.

References

• World Health Organization. (2026). Blindness and Vision Impairment Key Facts. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment
• World Health Organization. (2025). Deafness and Hearing Loss Key Facts. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss
• DataReportal. (2025). Digital 2025: Global Overview Report. Retrieved from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2025-global-overview-report
• WebAIM. (2025). The WebAIM Million: The 2025 report on the accessibility of the top 1,000,000 home pages. Retrieved from https://webaim.org/projects/million/
• UsableNet. (2025). 2025 Year-End Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Report: ADA Digital Accessibility Lawsuit Trends Involving Websites, Mobile Apps, and Video Content. Retrieved from https://usablenet.com
• World Health Organization. (2023). Disability Key Facts. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health
• We Are Social. (2023). Digital 2023 Global Overview Report PDF. Retrieved from https://wearesocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Digital-2023-Global-Overview-Report.pdf
• Accenture. (2023). The Disability Inclusion Imperative. Retrieved from https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/accenture-com/document-2/Disability-Inclusion-Report-Business-Imperative.pdf
• Click-Away Pound Survey. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.clickawaypound.com/