ADA Website Lawsuit Statistics: 2025 Year in Review

Executive Summary

2025 was the highest-volume year ever recorded for ADA website accessibility lawsuits. Over 5,100 federal cases were filed, representing a 37% increase over the approximately 3,700 cases filed in 2024. This figure does not include thousands of state-level filings, demand letters resolved without litigation, or DOJ enforcement actions.

The growth trend has been consistent and accelerating. From roughly 800 cases in 2018 to over 5,100 in 2025, ADA website litigation has grown at a compound annual rate of approximately 30%. Nothing in the current legal, regulatory, or technology landscape suggests this trend will reverse. In fact, the April 2026 federal deadline is expected to accelerate filings significantly.

Key 2025 findings:

• 5,100+ federal ADA website lawsuits filed
• 37% year-over-year increase from 2024
• E-commerce remained the most targeted sector (77% of cases)
• Average settlement ranged from $15,000 to $50,000 depending on industry
• Top 50 plaintiffs filed over 2,000 combined cases
• New York and California accounted for 78% of filings
• The overlap of overlay widget usage and lawsuits increased: sites using overlays were sued at a rate comparable to sites without them

Filing Volume and Growth Trend

The trajectory of ADA website lawsuit filings over the past seven years tells a clear story of exponential growth.

Annual federal filing volume:

• 2018: ~800 cases
• 2019: ~2,200 cases (+175%)
• 2020: ~2,500 cases (+14%)
• 2021: ~2,800 cases (+12%)
• 2022: ~3,200 cases (+14%)
• 2023: ~3,400 cases (+6%)
• 2024: ~3,700 cases (+9%)
• 2025: ~5,100 cases (+37%)

The 2025 spike was driven by several factors. Plaintiffs' law firms expanded their automated website scanning capabilities, identifying violations at greater scale. The DOJ's publication of the Title II final rule in 2024 energized plaintiffs' attorneys who anticipated the regulatory momentum would support broader enforcement. And the sustained profitability of ADA website litigation continued to attract new plaintiffs and law firms to the space.

The 2020-2023 period of relatively moderate growth (6-14% annually) was an anomaly, not a trend reversal. That period coincided with COVID-related court delays and a temporary plateau in plaintiff capacity. The 2025 acceleration represents a return to the historical growth trajectory with additional catalysts.

Most Targeted Industries

E-commerce dominates ADA website litigation, but the targeting is broadening across industries.

2025 case distribution by industry:

• E-commerce / Online Retail: 77% (~3,930 cases)
• Restaurants / Food Service: 12% (~620 cases)
• Retail (brick-and-mortar with websites): 10% (~520 cases)
• Hospitality / Hotels: 6% (~310 cases)
• Healthcare: 7% (~340 cases)
• Financial Services: 5% (~280 cases)
• Education: 9% (~450 cases, mostly OCR complaints)
• Real Estate: 4% (~190 cases)
• Nonprofit: 3% (~150 cases)
• Legal Services: 3% (~130 cases)

Note: Percentages exceed 100% because some cases are categorized across multiple industries.

E-commerce sites are disproportionately targeted for practical reasons: they have high page counts (more violations per site), they process financial transactions (stronger accommodation argument), and their product catalogs generate predictable, repeatable violation patterns that can be identified at scale.

The fastest-growing category by percentage was healthcare (+52% YoY), driven by increased scrutiny of telehealth platforms and patient portals following HHS guidance on digital accessibility.

Geographic Concentration

ADA website lawsuits continue to concentrate in jurisdictions with favorable plaintiff environments.

2025 filings by jurisdiction:

• New York: 48% (~2,450 cases)
• California: 30% (~1,530 cases)
• Florida: 8% (~410 cases)
• Pennsylvania: 4% (~200 cases)
• All other states: 10% (~510 cases)

New York and California together account for 78% of all filings, consistent with historical patterns. New York's concentration is driven by favorable state human rights law provisions that supplement the federal ADA with additional remedies. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act provides statutory damages of $4,000 per violation per visit, making California filings particularly costly for defendants.

Florida's share has been growing (from 5% in 2023 to 8% in 2025), driven by new plaintiff law firms establishing practices in the state and favorable district court interpretations of standing requirements.

Settlement and Cost Data

Settlement amounts vary significantly by industry, violation count, and defendant sophistication. Here is what the 2025 data shows.

Average settlement by category:

• Small business demand letters: $10,000 - $15,000
• Small business federal lawsuits: $15,000 - $25,000
• Mid-market lawsuits: $25,000 - $50,000
• Enterprise/class action settlements: $100,000 - $500,000+
• DOJ enforcement consent decrees: $50,000 - $250,000 + mandatory remediation

Average defense costs:

• Demand letter response (settle quickly): $5,000 - $10,000
• Demand letter response (negotiate): $10,000 - $20,000
• Federal lawsuit defense (settle before trial): $25,000 - $50,000
• Federal lawsuit defense (through discovery): $50,000 - $150,000
• Trial defense (rare): $150,000+

Key cost insight: The total cost of a typical ADA website lawsuit (settlement + defense costs + mandated remediation) averages $45,000 - $75,000. Proactive compliance through continuous monitoring costs $3,500 - $10,000 annually. The ROI of proactive compliance is 5-20x.

Plaintiff Filing Patterns

ADA website litigation is driven by a concentrated group of serial plaintiffs and law firms.

2025 plaintiff concentration:

• Top 10 plaintiffs: ~25% of all filings
• Top 50 plaintiffs: ~40% of all filings
• Top 100 plaintiffs: ~55% of all filings

The most active individual plaintiff in 2025 filed 287 separate ADA website lawsuits. The most active law firm filed over 600 cases on behalf of multiple plaintiffs. These firms operate as volume businesses: automated scanning identifies targets, template complaints are filed, and most cases settle within 60-90 days for $10,000-$25,000.

The economics are straightforward. At an average settlement of $15,000 and a filing volume of 50 cases per month, a single plaintiff-attorney team generates $750,000 in monthly settlement revenue. This economic incentive ensures the filing volume will continue to grow as long as websites remain non-compliant.

Repeat targeting: Approximately 18% of defendants who settled an ADA website lawsuit in 2024 were sued again in 2025 for new or recurring violations. One-time fixes without ongoing monitoring create recurring legal exposure.

Most Commonly Cited Violations

Plaintiffs' complaints in 2025 most frequently cited these WCAG failures:

1. Missing alt text on images (cited in 89% of complaints)

2. Missing form labels (cited in 72% of complaints)

3. Insufficient color contrast (cited in 68% of complaints)

4. Keyboard navigation failures (cited in 61% of complaints)

5. Missing skip navigation (cited in 55% of complaints)

6. Empty links or buttons (cited in 48% of complaints)

7. Missing page language (cited in 42% of complaints)

8. Inaccessible PDF documents (cited in 38% of complaints)

9. Missing video captions (cited in 31% of complaints)

10. Focus management issues (cited in 28% of complaints)

This list is significant because the top 5 most-cited violations are all detectable by automated scanning. This means plaintiffs are using automated tools to identify targets, and the most commonly exploited violations are also the easiest for defendants to find and fix proactively.

2026 Projections

Based on historical filing trends, regulatory developments, and market dynamics, AdaScanPro projects the following for 2026:

Projected 2026 filing volume: 7,000 - 8,500 federal cases

This projection is driven by:

• The April 2026 federal deadline creating a new legal standard for plaintiffs to reference
• Continued expansion of automated plaintiff scanning tools
• New law firms entering the ADA website litigation space
• Increased focus on healthcare, financial services, and government sectors
• State-level legislation in California, New York, and Colorado expanding digital accessibility requirements

What this means for businesses: The window for proactive compliance is closing. Every month of delay increases the probability of receiving a demand letter. Businesses that achieve compliance before the April 2026 deadline will be positioned to defend against or entirely avoid litigation.

How to Protect Your Business

The data is unambiguous: ADA website lawsuits are increasing, settlements are costly, and the regulatory environment is tightening. The most effective protection is proactive compliance.

Immediate steps:

1. Scan your website to identify current violations

2. Prioritize fixes based on the most commonly cited violations (alt text, form labels, contrast, keyboard access)

3. Implement ongoing monitoring to catch new violations as they are introduced

4. Document your compliance efforts as evidence of good faith

AdaScanPro identifies violations, provides prioritized remediation roadmaps, and continuously monitors for new issues. Scan your website free to see your compliance score and the specific violations putting you at risk.