UsableNet

2021
YEAR END REPORTADA DIGITALACCESSIBILITY LAWSUITSWebsites, Mobile, and Video

The UsableNet research team monitors anddocuments all digital accessibility-related lawsuits
where a website, mobile app, or video content is thesubject of a claim in federal court under the ADA orin California state court under the Unruh Civil Rights
Act. The following report outlines trends foundduring 2021. Data and images can be shared whenreferencing UsableNet as a source and linking towww.usablenet.com.

2021 DIGITAL ADA LAWSUITSEXCEED 4000

NUMBER OF CASESOver 10 lawsuits are filed every day.

2314

2890

3503

4055

2018

2019

2020

2021

ADA-based cases, where the subject of the claim
was either a website, mobile app, or video content,reached a rate of over 10 per day in 2021 with over
4000 in total. That is a 15% increase from 2020.
Cases counted include those filed in federal court
and those filed in state courts such as California
under the Unruh Act with a direct reference toviolation of the ADA.

COMPANIES CONTINUE TO GETMULTIPLE LAWSUITS

15% i.e. nearly 500 lawsuits in2021 were against companiesthat have received a previous
ADA Digital Lawsuit.

Many companies have received multiple ADA-basedlawsuits. Often, the first lawsuit is for the website
and the second for a mobile app. Additional lawsuits
have been filed against the same website, app, oragainst another related brand in the case of aholding company. In some instances, the same
website receives lawsuits from different plaintiffs.
The bottom line is if websites, mobile apps, andcontent are not accessible, there is a chance toreceive multiple ADA lawsuits, regardless of how
many times a settlement has been reached.

THE EFFECT OF KEY ADA CASES
Key court decisions this year have affected thevolume of cases in different ways. The Winn-Dixie
ADA appeal decision in Florida's Eleventh Circuit
was good news for companies facing federal
website accessibility lawsuits. New York decisions
are removing media and content sites as targets
re-adjusted focus to nexus and traditional public
accommodation.

NUMBER OF CASES

California

New York

Florida

252
216

202

183

180

145

142
96

939196JAN

76593529FEBMAR

161410APRMAYJUNNUMBER OF CASES466*

147109

170

150

143

127
82

81
123JUL

112

63AUG

SEP

110

95

125OCTNOVDEC*The last week of November saw a significant number of cases filled in one week. Thisappears to be a one-off end of year effort by one plaintiff firm in New York and not aweekly trend so far.

The Eleventh Circuit court decision significantly
reduced the suits seen in Florida, but the New
York-based decisions just changed the focus toindustries that are not just online but have some
sort of property or location that the websiteservices.

INDUSTRY LEADER BOARDE-Commerce websites are cited themost in digital accessibility lawsuits.
Companies with locations high on thetarget list.

e-Commerce
74%
Other industries
26%

Industry
Total Percent
e-Commerce
74%
Cross Industry Companies
5%
Food Service Industry
4%
3%
Digital Media & Agencies
Healthcare
3%Entertainment & Leisure2%
Banking/Financial
2%
Education
2%
Travel/Hospitality
1%
Automotive
1%
Real Estate Agencies & Properties
1%
Fitness & Wellness
< 1%
< 1%
Telecommunications
Insurance< 1%
Self-Service< 1%
Grand Total
100%
Recent cases have brought nexus (a business with aconnected physical location) into focus. That could
be fashion retail but also sports teams with stadiums,venues, restaurants, banking, and other business thathave both an online and offline presence.

NO COMPANY IS TOO SMALL

The percentage of companies sued
with revenue below 50 Million per year
is growing.
2020

2021

30%
> 50M revenue

19%> 50M revenue

70%< 50M revenue

81%< 50M revenue

This could be a natural progression or due tochanging consumer trends. Many of the largest
companies have already been sued and haveaccessibility programs, which would make fora natural progression to smaller companies.
The increase in e-Commerce sales due to thepandemic has also brought more attention tosmaller, up–and–coming e-Commerce brands.

LARGE E-COMMERCE BRANDSIN FOCUS

20% of the Top 500 e-Commerce
websites received a lawsuit in 2021.
Over the last 4 years, over 80% of the
top 500 e-Commerce websites havebeen sued.

20%
i.e. 98 cases in 2021 were against theTop 500 e-Commerce retails.

82%of the Top 500 received an ADA-based
digital lawsuit since 2018.
412 of the Internet Retailer Top 500 list received anADA-based digital lawsuit related to one of theirbrands in the last 4 years. Large e-Commerce sites
are complex, changing content and code often, andmany have also a physical location (nexus).
This combination makes them very likely to receive
lawsuits if they do not have a strong accessibility
program in place.

LEADING ADA LAW FIRMS
Top 10 plaintiff firms file
three-quarters of all digital ADA
lawsuits. While the top ten defense
firms represent less than 15%.

DEFENDANT LAWYERS

PLAINTIFF LAWYERS“We will defend you,but you should beaccessible.”“We will sue you
if you do not provide
an accessible website.”

1234567891012345678910DENTONS US LLPMIZRAHI KROUB LLP
Started filing lawsuitsin October

JACKSON LEWIS P.C.

JEFFREY A. GOTTLIEB, ESQ.

LEWIS BRISBOISBISGAARD & SMITH LLP

WILSHIRE LAW FIRM

MORGAN, LEWIS,BOCKIUS LLPSHAKED LAW
GROUP, P.C.

OGLETREE, DEAKINS,NASH, SMOAK &STEWART P.C.

LIPSKY LOWE LLPSEYFARTH SHAW LLP

COHEN & MIZRAHI LLPStopped filing lawsuitsin July

SHEPPARD, MULLIN,
RICHTER & HAMPTON LLPMARS KHAIMOV LAW, PLLCO'HAGANMEYER LLCCENTER FOR
DISABILITY ACCESSLITTLER MENDELSON P.C.

STEIN SAKS, PLLC

KAUFMAN DOLOWICH& VOLUCK, LLP

MARCUS & ZELMAN LLC

More than 1,000 different lawyers across hundredsof law firms work in defense on active ADA-basedlawsuits. The number of plaintiffs and plaintiffs firms
is less than 100. This reflects the focus of mostplaintiffs and firms to file a significant number oflawsuits every month.

WEBSITES ARE THE PRIMARY TARGET
Lawsuits in 2021 reflect the importanceof considering accessibility for all digitalchannels and content.

Desktop Websites

94%

Video Content

6%

Mobile App

4%

Combined Website & Mobile App

2%

Mobile Website< 1%

The majority of plaintiffs and firms are focused on
testing and filing against websites. There are a few
plaintiff firms that have focused more on mobile
apps and video, particularly in California.

IMPORTANCE OF MOBILE APPS

Mobile app usage has risen, andlawsuits have followed. Over 100
companies received a lawsuit acrossdifferent industries.
Industry
Total Percent
Retail25%
Digital Media & Agencies
16%
Food Service Industry
10%
Fitness & Wellness
7%
Banking/Financial
6%
5%
Healthcare
Entertainment & Leisure3%
Travel/Hospitality
3%
Real Estate Agencies & Properties
2%
Education
1%
Automotive
1%
Insurance
1%
Telecommunications
1%
Cross Industry Companies
19%
Grand Total
100%
34% of companies who received a mobile
app lawsuit had previously been sued forwebsite inaccessibility.

ACCESSIBILITY WIDGETS AND OVERLAYS
OFFER NO GUARANTEESOver 400 companies who have anaccessibility widget or overlay on
their website have been sued.

NUMBER OF CASES

Number of lawsuits in 2021
5039353432MARAPRMAY

2742354039SEPOCT3621JANFEBJUN

JUL

AUG

The promise to prevent ADA lawsuits by using anaccessibility widget or overlays isn't real. Many lawsuitsin 2021 list widgets and overlay features as a barrier toequal access in addition to other inaccessible aspectsof the website. This means these approaches giveplaintiffs more claims to add to a lawsuit, not less.

Methodology
The UsableNet research team reviews all lawsuits filedin federal courts under the ADA and in California
under Unruh –over 12,000 this year. The cases arereviewed to identify cases where a digital property is
the subject of the claim and not a physical one. This
allows UsableNet to keep our clients informed andprovides them with the most up-to-date advice forplanning their digital accessibility initiatives.
SourceData is based on UsableNet’s research team’s collection
across multiple legal sources from January 1, 2021, toDecember 13, 2021.
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