State of Web Accessibility 2026
An original data report on WCAG 2.1 AA compliance across 1,000+ websites. ComplyKeep analyzed real-world accessibility patterns, violation types, and industry trends to quantify the current state of web accessibility.
Last updated: July 2026 | Data collected from ComplyKeep scans conducted January–June 2026
Key Findings at a Glance
Our automated scanning engine analyzed 1,000+ websites across six industries. Here's what we found.
Issues by Severity
Average number of issues per site, categorized by WCAG severity level.
Values represent average issues per site across all 1,000+ scanned websites. Minor issues calculated as remainder of total average (34.7) minus critical, serious, and moderate averages.
Industry Research
Independent research from WebAIM corroborates ComplyKeep's findings. Their 2026 Million study, conducted separately from our analysis, confirms that web accessibility remains a systemic challenge.
WebAIM 2026 Million Study
Independent analysis of 1,000,000 homepages | Source: webaim.org/projects/million/
WebAIM, a leading accessibility research organization at Utah State University, conducts an annual analysis of the top 1,000,000 homepages on the web. Their 2026 study, conducted independently of ComplyKeep's analysis, provides strong corroboration of our findings and highlights a worrying year-over-year regression in web accessibility.
WebAIM vs. ComplyKeep: Key Metrics Compared
| Metric | WebAIM 2026 Million | ComplyKeep 2026 | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Websites analyzed | 1,000,000 homepages | 1,000+ websites (multi-page) | Different scope |
| Non-compliance rate | 95.9% | 96.3% | Closely aligned ↑ |
| Average errors per page | 56.1 | 34.7 | WebAIM higher (broader scan) |
| Low contrast prevalence | 83.9% | 83.2% | Closely aligned |
| Pages with zero detectable failures | 4.1% | 3.7% | Consistent (~4%) |
Contributing Factors Identified by WebAIM
WebAIM attributes the 2026 regression — the first year-over-year worsening since the study began — partly to two factors:
- AI-assisted “vibe coding”: The rapid adoption of AI code generation tools has accelerated page production but introduced accessibility regressions at scale, as generated code frequently omits semantic HTML, ARIA attributes, and proper labeling.
- Growing page complexity: Average homepage complexity increased by 22.5% in a single year, with more elements, more JavaScript frameworks, and more dynamic content — all of which introduce additional accessibility failure surface area.
What This Confirms
WebAIM's independent findings closely track ComplyKeep's data. Both studies independently confirm that approximately 96% of websites have detectable WCAG failures, low contrast is the single most prevalent accessibility issue (appearing on ~83–84% of pages), and only about 4% of the web is free of automatically detectable accessibility failures. The convergence of these two separately conducted studies — one analyzing 1,000,000 homepages and the other analyzing 1,000+ full websites — provides strong evidence that these figures accurately represent the current state of web accessibility in 2026.
WebAIM is not affiliated with ComplyKeep. This section cites their publicly available research for corroboration. Learn more at webaim.org/projects/million/.
Most Common Accessibility Violations
Ranked by percentage of websites where each violation type was detected.
Percentage represents the proportion of 1,000+ analyzed websites where the violation was detected at least once.
Accessibility Compliance by Industry
Non-compliance rates and average issue counts vary significantly across industries. Government sites perform best; small businesses struggle most.
Non-Compliance Rate by Industry
Average Issues per Page by Industry
| Industry | Non-Compliance Rate | Avg Issues per Page | vs. Overall Average (34.7) |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-commerce | 97.1% | 41.2 | +18.7% above average |
| Small Business | 98.2% | 38.9 | +12.1% above average |
| Education | 95.3% | 31.5 | −9.2% below average |
| Healthcare | 94.8% | 28.7 | −17.3% below average |
| Financial Services | 92.4% | 22.8 | −34.3% below average |
| Government | 89.1% | 18.3 | −47.3% below average |
Best Performing: Government
Government websites had the lowest non-compliance rate (89.1%) and fewest average issues (18.3 per page). Section 508 requirements and federal accessibility mandates appear to drive better outcomes.
Worst Performing: Small Business
Small business websites had the highest non-compliance rate (98.2%) with an average of 38.9 issues per page. Limited resources, lack of awareness, and no dedicated accessibility teams contribute to poor performance.
The Accessibility Legal Landscape
Regulatory enforcement and litigation data surrounding web accessibility in 2025–2026.
ADA Title III Website Lawsuits (2025)
Filed in U.S. federal courts — up 12% from 2024. Plaintiffs targeted businesses with inaccessible websites, apps, and digital services.
Average Settlement Range
Typical settlement for ADA website accessibility lawsuits, excluding attorney's fees and remediation costs.
Section 508 Audit Increase (2025)
Federal agencies and contractors increased Section 508 compliance audits by 34% year-over-year.
EU EAA Enforcement Began
The European Accessibility Act went into full enforcement on June 28, 2025, requiring accessible products and services across all EU member states.
Top States for ADA Filings
California, New York, and Florida account for over 70% of all ADA Title III website accessibility lawsuits filed in 2025.
Non-Compliance Rate
The overwhelming majority of websites are non-compliant with WCAG 2.1 AA — meaning most organizations are potential litigation targets.
Why This Matters in 2026
With 96.3% of websites failing at least one WCAG 2.1 AA criterion, the vast majority of organizations are exposed to legal risk. The combination of rising ADA litigation, EU EAA enforcement, and increased regulatory scrutiny makes accessibility compliance a business imperative — not just an ethical one. Organizations that proactively address accessibility reduce both legal exposure and user exclusion.
Methodology
Data Collection
ComplyKeep conducted automated accessibility scans of 1,000+ websites between January 1 and June 30, 2026. Websites were selected to provide a representative cross-section of industries, including e-commerce, healthcare, education, financial services, government, and small business sites.
Scanning Technology
All scans were performed using the ComplyKeep scanning engine, which combines a Playwright headless browser with the axe-core accessibility testing library. Each page was rendered with JavaScript enabled to ensure accurate detection of dynamic content issues. Scans tested against WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria as defined by the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
Severity Classification
Issues were classified by severity using axe-core's standard severity levels: Critical (severe barriers that prevent assistive technology users from completing tasks), Serious (significant barriers that make usage difficult), Moderate (issues that may cause confusion but don't fully block usage), and Minor (best-practice violations with minimal user impact).
Industry Classification
Websites were categorized by industry based on their primary business activity. "Small Business" included sites from companies with fewer than 50 employees across various sectors that did not fit cleanly into the other five industry categories.
Limitations
Automated scanning detects approximately 30–40% of all accessibility issues. Some WCAG criteria require manual testing (e.g., meaningful link text in context, appropriate heading structure for content semantics, cognitive accessibility). The actual non-compliance rate is likely higher than reported here, as manual-only issues are not captured in automated scans. All statistics represent detected violations only and should be considered a floor, not a ceiling.
Data Availability
This dataset is available for citation and reference under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license. When citing, please attribute: "ComplyKeep, State of Web Accessibility 2026, complykeep.com/accessibility-statistics-2026."
How to Cite This Report
Citing WebAIM's Million Study
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