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Accessibility Industry Update: August 2026

Home » Newsletters » Accessibility Industry Update: August 2026

From the Desk of the Editor

August has brought the usual late-summer mix of last-minute vacations and back-to-school planning. The accessibility news cycle was a little quieter than last month.

This month, we are looking at a proposed set of rules that could give India one of the broadest digital accessibility postures in the world. We also have a new evaluation methodology from W3C, an analysis of what 189 commenters thought of the Title II extension, and some great resources.

Standing Notes

If you are new here, welcome. We compile this update every month to keep you informed on the changing landscape of digital accessibility. Whether you are a developer, product manager, QA specialist, leader, or somewhere in between, we want to give you the context you need to stay in the know.

As always, reach out if you think we missed something, or share the link with your colleagues or partners who may benefit from some or all of this information. You can also sign up to receive these accessibility updates via email.

– The QualityLogic Editorial Team

What’s Inside

India Proposes a Broad New Accessibility Regime for Digital Products

India’s Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities published draft rules on non-negotiable accessibility standards for information and communication technology in July. Note: This link points to a PDF. Pages 1-10 are written in Hindi, pages 11-21 are the same text in English.

The proposal responds to a 2024 Supreme Court decision that directed the government to separate binding accessibility requirements from advisory guidance under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.

If signed into law, it would mandate conformance to India’s IS 17802 standard (which is based on Europe’s EN 301 549, which is in turn based off of the WCAG), for websites, mobile and tablet apps, software, digital content, electronic documents, ICT hardware, consumer products, and technology used in public facilities and services.

Why this matters for U.S., Canadian, and European business: This impacts establishments outside India when they make covered products or services available to people in India. Given that India has around 65,000 registered software and IT companies, including around 10,000 SaaS providers, we’re talking a huge subset of the global market.

Organizations with a turnover of rupees 500 crore or greater would have one year to meet these requirements, and smaller establishments would receive 18 months. Full compliance with the referenced standards would be required within two years.

In addition to becoming compliant, covered establishments would have to publish an Accessibility Conformance Report for free in a human-readable format, and be refreshed at least every two years.

Public/government bodies would have 90 days to revise procurement policies, tenders, and contracts, and they could not buy, deploy, renew, or upgrade covered technology unless it met the applicable requirements. A National Accessibility ICT Committee, with at least half of its membership made up of people with disabilities, would coordinate implementation and develop certification and auditor frameworks. Enforcement would run through India’s disability commissioners and sector regulators. Continued noncompliance after an ordered remediation period could lead to additional fines or the suspension or cancellation of a registration, certification, or authorization. 

Our Thoughts

There is a lot to like in this proposal. It clearly defines the problem it is trying to solve, involves people with disabilities, does not limit the requirements to government organizations, applies to companies serving the Indian market regardless of where they are based, and requires periodic retests so that accessibility does not lag behind. That said, it is not perfect by a longshot. One year out is simply not enough time for large enterprises to allocate funds, perform the testing, and substantially remediate their products. We saw this complaint voiced in numerous comments on the Title II extension in the U.S., and Title II is far less stringent. In order for accessibility legislation to be effective it needs to be realistic, and companies will find these timelines too burdensome. Because of this, we doubt the proposal will become law in its current form. However, this is certainly one to watch.

The past month has been a quiet one on the legal front.

However, Converge Accessibility’s July legal update provided a snapshot of three cases.

  • Cole v. Kingsmen Premium was dismissed based on the “intent to return” requirement after the plaintiff visited the site once and could not buy a product. The descriptors given to the product were deemed generic enough that a similar one could be bought elsewhere.
  • Merrell v. Tapestry ended in the company’s (Tapestry’s) favor after it presented evidence of current compliance, automated testing tools, and a large accessibility program despite conflicting expert findings.
  • In Merrell v. Ralph Lauren, the court certified a nationwide class seeking an ADA injunction but declined to certify a California Unruh Act class because each member’s intent to transact required individual review.

These cases reinforce something that we’ve known for a while: In order to receive a positive resolution, plaintiffs need to carefully consider the stories that they tell and the facts they present, since this is what determines standing and class certification.

If you represent a company, documented remediation and continued testing can save the day when it comes to strengthening your defense.

In July, 401 web accessibility lawsuits were filed in the United States. Of these, 77 defendants had already been sued over accessibility in other cases, and 113 defendants were found to be using an accessibility overlay product. As a reminder, UsableNet maintains an ADA website lawsuits tracker that they update every month across cases in California, New York, and federal courts.

Standard Updates and Reminders

W3C published WCAG Evaluation Methodology 2.0 as an Accessibility Guidelines Working Group Note on July 23. WCAG-EM offers a repeatable process for defining the scope of an evaluation, exploring the product, choosing a representative sample, testing that sample, and reporting the findings. This is a major update over version 1.0, as it now covers more than just websites. It specifically helps support audits for mobile apps, kiosks, eBooks, and documents.

It has been published as a group note. The W3C defines a group note as meant to “provide a stable reference for a document that is not intended to be a formal standard. These notes have not received formal review and are not endorsed by W3C.”

Do not forget to take WebAIM’s Screen Reader User Survey #11 by September 1. WebAIM has run these surveys for more than a decade, and the aggregated results help developers, standards groups, researchers, and accessibility teams understand screen reader use and track changes over time. The survey is open to all screen reader users, no matter whether you use one every day or once a month for testing. It contains 28 brief questions. WebAIM expects to publish the results in September. 

Upcoming Conferences and Events

  • PitchAbility: Vista International Pitch Competition, September 25, 2026, San Jose, California: A pitch competition, technology showcase, and investor forum bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, and accessibility advocates. Entrepreneurs can apply to pitch in person or virtually, and potentially receive funding, through September 4.
  • M-Enabling Summit, October 5 to 7, 2026, Arlington, Virginia: An annual cross-sector event that brings together accessibility practitioners across government, corporate, education, and nonprofit. This year’s program focuses on accessible digital transformation, with sessions on policy, inclusive technology, testing, artificial intelligence, and accessibility program management.
  • WordPress Accessibility Day, October 7 to 8, 2026, online: A free, 24-hour global livestream about website accessibility for WordPress developers, designers, content creators, and users.
  • The Design + Accessibility Summit, October 20 to 23, 2026, online: Four days of practical sessions on creating accessible PDFs, presentations, graphics, forms, eBooks, videos, and other digital content.
  • Disability Innovation Forum, October 22, 2026, Washington, D.C.: A forum bringing together disability-led companies, investors, advocates, and business leaders to explore how inclusive technology is changing education, employment, and economic opportunity.
  • Accessing Higher Ground, November 16 to 20, 2026, Denver, Colorado, with virtual registration available: A conference focused on accessible media, web, and technology, with particular relevance to higher education.

What We’ve Been Reading

Here is a list of the articles and posts that we found particularly informative and/or interesting this month.

Jobs and Opportunities

QualityLogic does not explicitly endorse these companies. Should you decide to seek a position with one of them, please perform your own due diligence. 

Looking for more opportunities? Check out A11yJobs, Indeed, and LinkedIn.

Thanks for Reading!

That’s a wrap for this month.