In this webinar, Kevin McDaniel and Reeve Segal from Accessibility.com will walk us through the truth behind the increase in web accessibility lawsuits. Then, Sofia Leiva from 3Play Media will share how video accessibility has been impacted.

1. 3Play Media
Accessibility.com
Trends in Online
Accessibility
Today’s legal environment and strategies to ensure effective
communication

2. AGENDA
House keeping
01 What is accessible online
technology?
02 Assistive Technology
03 Legal trends in digital
accessiblity
04 What is video accessibility?
05 Trends in video accessibility

3. Who are we talking about?
15% of the world population lives with some
form of disability
Approximately 87.2% of all households have a
computer
Over 61 million Americans live with some type
of disability

4. What is accessible online technology?
Content is designed and developed
so it is usable for everyone,
regardless of their abilities or type of
technology used to access
information

5. What is
assistive
technology?
?
Software
Screen reading applications
Screen magnification software
Speech to text
Hardware
Wayfinding technology
Hearing aids
Adaptive controls
Phsyical
Glasses
Mobility devices

6. Guidelines and Regulations
WCAG 2.0 | 2.1 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
adopted by the Federal government, the state of Florida, California, New York,
Colorado, etc.
requirement 1.2.4: Captions (Live) - Captions are provided for all live audio
content in synchronized media
requirement 1.2.2: Captions (pre-recorded) - Captions are provided for all
prerecorded audio content in synchronized media, except when the media is a
media alternative for text and is clearly labeled as such
21st Century Communications Act and Video Accessibility Act
requires internet video originating from TV to be closed captioned

7. Website Accessibility: Title III and Surf-by Lawsuits
Key takeaways
• Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) mandates that public
accommodation must be provided to disabled persons to allow for the “full
and equal enjoyment” of the related privileges, goods, services, advantages
and accommodations.
• While Title III was not originally created to be deal with the internet – it has
been interpreted as the means by which Digital Accessibility Lawsuits are in
legally validated.
• Bill calling for official Web Accessibility Guidelines, the Online Accessibility Act
(H.R. 8478), was introduced but failed to pass before the 116th Congress was
adjourned in 2021

8. Poll
Poll 1
How digital website accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2020?
• 500+
• 100+
• 2000+
• 3000+
Which industry do you believe was targeted most in website accessibility lawsuits?
• Apparel
• Consumer goods
• Hotel restaurant/leisure
• Entertainment
• Food products
Poll 2

9. 2020 Website Accessibility
Lawsuit Recap
• 2,058 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2020
• Consumer Goods industry was targeted with the most accessibility
lawsuits
• New York had more than half of the all the cases filed nationwide
• Nearly 20% of all website accessibility lawsuits were filed by six
plaintiffs
• 265,000 demand letters were estimated to be sent in 2020

10. 2020 Annual Report

11. 2020 Annual Report

12. 2020 Annual Report

13. 2020 Annual Report

14. 2020 Annual Report

15. July 2021 Website Accessibility Recap
Key takeaways
• 176 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in July
• Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Services and Food, Beverage and
Tobacco were targeted most
• 6 Plaintiffs filed 41% of the month’s website accessibility lawsuits
• Manning Law, APC filed the most complaints in July with 29 lawsuits in
California
• Most lawsuits (47%) were filed in New York with California coming in second
at 45%
• Accessibility.com detected that 52% of litigated websites in July are using
a Third-party accessibility Overlay tool

16. Accessibility.com: Accessibility Starts Here

21. VIDEO IN 2021
91% say the pandemic
has made video more
important to their
brand (Hubspot)
78% of people are
watching videos
online every week
(Adweek)
82% of the world’s
internet traffic will
be video content
by 2022 (Comcast)

22. MORE PEOPLE WITH.
DISABILITIES ARE.
ACCESSING VIDEO THAN.
EVER..

23. The Accessibility
Picture
71%
Of people with disabilities leave a
website immediately if it is not
accessible. (Level Access)
87%
Of organizations are captioning
their content. (3Play)
$1,000,000,000,000
In annual disposable income from
people with disabilities is missed
when we don’t make content
accessible. (ROD)
ACCESSIBILITY.
IN 2021.

24. MOST VIDEOS BY.
THEMSELVES AREN’T.
ACCESSIBLE..

25. ACCESSIBLE VIDEO
Audio Description
Describe the important visual elements in a video.
Accessible video player
Screen reader and keyboard accessible. Also
supports adding CC and AD.
Captions & Transcripts (& live captioning)
Caption your recording and aim for a 99% accuracy rate.
Avoid using automatic solutions.

26. A11Y LAWS
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 and Section 508
Americans with Disabilities Act
Title II and Title III
CVAA
21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act
FCC
Caption quality standards for broadcast

27. Level A
Transcript for audio-only content;
captions for pre-recorded video;
audio or text alternative for audio
description
Level AA
Captions for live; audio description
for pre-recorded video
WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES
Level AAA
Sign language track; extended AD;
live transcript for audio-only

28. QUALITY MATTERS..

29. Accessibility.com: Accessibility Starts Here