In the past, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act required only federal websites to comply with accessibility requirements. Nowadays, this isn't the case. There has been an emerging trend of lawsuits to private sectors and companies for not providing users an accessible website.

The number of Section 508 lawsuits filed in federal courts increased around 12% in 2022. This only accounts for federal lawsuits. Some cases never made it to court and ended in demand letters. This prompted swift action from the companies to remediate any accessibility issues in their websites.

The reason behind the lawsuits

There are several possible reasons for the increase in lawsuits in the last couple of years. With the COVID-19 pandemic, users were more reliable on doing everything online. Also, there were very high profile cases with big companies that put digital accessibility in the spotlight.

In June 2023, a revised bill in California would effectively make WCAG 2.1 Level AA the required standard for the websites and mobile apps of “business establishments”. This is covered by the Unruh Civil Rights Act.

With this bill, there might be a bigger wave of lawsuits related to digital accessibility. This year has seen up to a 10% increase in laswuits. These are related to users with disabilities not able to access the information on websites properly.

The importance of having an accessible website

In technology, trends come and go, but Section 508 guidelines will always be at the forefront of developing websites; so every user has access to the same, or alternative information. Accessibility goes hand in hand with UX or user experience; in order for a website to have great user experience, it also needs to be accessible.

Therefore, Section 508 guidelines and making a website accessible will continue to trend in the next years. This will become a requirement that everyone developing a website needs to have the knowledge of; no matter the industry.

Not knowing where to start in getting your website accessible? Contact us today to discover how the experts at Redmon Group can ensure your website is up to date with accessibility standards.