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Accessibility Industry Update: November 2025

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Welcome back to the accessibility industry update: your one-stop for everything new, noteworthy, and happening in the digital accessibility and assistive technology space. 

A few notes before we begin: 

  • We have opted to switch the release cadence of this newsletter from the beginning to the middle of each month. We often find ourselves hammered with emails on the 1st, and we know we aren’t alone. It is our hope that this change allows our readers more time to stay up to date. 
  • We have also added a job and opportunities section to the bottom of the newsletter. Now more than ever, there are exceptionally knowledgeable accessibility practitioners looking for a new role. Are you hiring? Reach out and we will send your position to thousands of readers for free.  

As always, let us know if you think we’ve 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.

Contents:

Upcoming Conferences and Events 

  • Sight Tech Global, hosted by Vista Honors, December 9 – 10, is a free virtual event highlighting the ways that rapid advances in AI and related technologies will fundamentally alter the landscape of assistive technology and accessibility. Hear from some of the industry’s foremost pioneers, researchers, founders, designers and advocates. 
  • Access Amplified, hosted by the University of Phoenix (Wednesday December 17, 9:00 – 1:00 MST) is a free virtual event focused on advancing digital accessibility in web development. Hear from Ed Summers (GitHub), Karl Groves (Afixt), and have the opportunity to speak with others in the field in breakout sessions. 

Takeaways from the Seventh Annual State of Digital Accessibility Report 

Level Access recently released their seventh annual State of Digital Accessibility Report, which surveyed over 1600 accessibility professionals “at organizations across sectors and industries in both the U.S. and European markets” 

The findings paint a picture of an industry in transition, in more ways than one. While there has been an evident uptick in organizations treating accessibility as a business imperative instead of a compliance checkbox, the legal risk is greater than ever before, and many companies are still unprepared. 

Maturity and Investment are on the Rise 

This year, 77% of organizations report having all three essential elements of a strong foundation: a formal policy, designated accountability, and dedicated budget. That’s up from 73% last year. 

The European Accessibility Act’s June 2025 enforcement deadline has European organizations leading the pack, with 83% having all three elements in place compared to 74% in the United States. 

Financial commitment also remains strong. About 68% of organizations plan to maintain or increase their accessibility budgets over the next year, up from 62% in 2024. Perhaps most telling is that 89% of respondents view accessibility as a competitive advantage and have made a direct connection to improved user experience, customer satisfaction, and even revenue growth. This shift in perspective represents real progress from the compliance-heavy mindset that we’ve seen in previous years. 

The procurement landscape also appears to be evolving in the right direction. ¾ of organizations now require proof of accessibility when purchasing digital products, with 31% making it mandatory every time (up from 27% last year). For software vendors, having solid accessibility documentation like VPATs is becoming essential to winning and retaining contracts. 

AI Adoption Accelerates 

Unsurprisingly, artificial intelligence has emerged as the standout trend of 2025. A full 82% of organizations now use AI tools in their accessibility work, up from 79% last year. When shopping for new accessibility solutions, 86% consider AI capabilities important, compared to 79% last year. 

Organizations with established policies, budgets, and accountability report 92% AI usage, while those lacking these foundations show just 57% adoption. This makes sense since AI tools promise to help teams tackle some of their biggest challenges without increasing headcount. 

Despite exceptional progress, storm clouds are gathering. Over half (53%) of organizations faced legal or regulatory action related to accessibility in the past year, up sharply from 43% in 2024. 59% believe they are at risk of legal action in the year ahead, compared to 41% who felt the same way last year. 

The U.S. public sector faces the highest level of risk on account of the 2026 ADA Title II deadline, followed closely by energy, manufacturing, and retail. 

Europe faces its own compliance crisis. While 76% of respondents say the European Accessibility Act applies to their organization, only 37% claim full compliance. This means less than half of covered organizations believe they meet the law’s requirements, despite enforcement already underway. 

The Road Ahead 

The report identifies two major obstacles holding organizations back. 

First is the process problem. Nearly half (49%) of those expecting legal trouble blame insufficient processes for meeting compliance requirements. While 83% say they approach accessibility proactively, the data suggests many aren’t actually walking the walk. Only 28% use designer tools despite 56% saying they address accessibility during design or earlier. 

Second, training effectiveness remains disappointingly low. Just 45% of respondents rate their organization’s training as highly effective. The U.S. public sector lags particularly behind at 30% compared to 51% in the private sector. Organizations with effective training report dramatically better outcomes across every metric, from user experience to revenue impact. 

Our Thoughts 

After decades working in the field, we echo the feeling of real progress. There has been no better time to be an accessibility practitioner. What we have here is an industry at a crossroads. The shift from compliance-driven to business-driven accessibility is amazing to see, it’s been a long time coming. The widespread adoption of AI tools shows teams are serious about scaling their efforts when they have the bandwidth and resources to do so. AI is perceived as a golden ticket on account of the speed at which it can make stuff happen. 

However, technology alone won’t close the gaps. AI is only effective when it is built with people in the room who truly understand accessibility. The AI Model Accessibility Checker Leaderboard is testament to the fact that there is still plenty of work to do here (even state of the art models spit out inaccessible code like there’s no tomorrow). 

The disconnect between perceived readiness and actual legal risk suggests many organizations don’t truly understand their exposure. Process gaps mean accessibility still gets bolted on after the fact rather than built in from the start. 

Finally, without effective training, the best of tools won’t deliver results. While nearly every accessibility testing vendor provides training services, and the majority of the companies we have worked with seem to understand the importance in bringing their people up to speed, an unfortunately low percentage of accessibility consultants are moving the needle. The reasons are ten-fold: we suspect lack of relevance, an increased emphasis on pre-built materials, and the expectation that attendance of a single session without an actionable plan to implement the lessons will improve the status quo. 

Probably the biggest item of note this month was that the Ukrainian government approved a draft law to make all digital services accessible. This will legally enshrine digital accessibility initiatives for the next five years, loosely modeled off those in the EU. There are a couple distinctions. For one, they have opted for a phased approach extending beyond the public sector with requirements for businesses in key sectors including banking, transport, online stores, education, and communications. Small businesses that fall outside these categories are exempt for now. Also, ATMs and self-service kiosks will need to be accessible if they are installed after this law goes into effect. 

Small business news published a piece highlighting the dark side of accessibility lawsuits: Small Businesses Face ADA Lawsuit Crisis Amid Confusing Compliance Standards. While it is undeniable that litigation has brought greater awareness to the importance in creating digital experiences that are usable by a greater number of people, when lawsuits focus more on generating settlements than promoting improvements, it gives the people trying to do the right thing a bad name. A small business owner captures the sentiment by saying “It made my heart sink,” “Instead of investing back into the company and investing in the employees, which could have made a better economic impact on their families, it went into some attorney’s pocket.” 

Speaking of the dark side of lawsuits: Federal Pro Se ADA Title III and FHA Lawsuit Numbers Surge, Likely Powered by AI – ADA Title III 

In October’s legal update from Converge Accessibility, we got confirmation that the Southern District of New York’s wavering interpretation of whether a website falls under a place of public accommodation comes down to the judge your case gets assigned to. 

Additionally, Judge Rochon from the Southern District of New York offered some much-needed guidance on what exactly constitutes “intent to return”. Due to the prevalence of frivolous lawsuits, ADA cases require three things. A plaintiff needs to establish standing, prove they suffered an injury or were wronged by being unable to use the service, and prove that they intend to return to the website or place of business upon remediation of the issues. 

There is now a bill (H.R.5605) to enact a Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act of 2025 in the United States with a host of bipartisan co-sponsors. If enacted, the DHHS would work with the Access Board to ensure that the interfaces of consumer medical devices used throughout the home were usable by people with disabilities in some form. More to come on this. 

Finally, one of the big questions we’ve gotten from partners, clients, and readers of this newsletter concerns the Department of Justice (DOJ) intent to publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to “reconsider whether some of the regulatory provisions imposed by the April 24, 2024 rule” — which requires state and local government websites and mobile apps to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA — “could be made less costly.” At the time of writing (November 19) there has been no further official information published. 

What We’ve Been Reading 

Jobs and Opportunities 

While we do our best to list opportunities here that we believe our readers will appreciate, QualityLogic does not explicitly endorse these companies. Should you decide to seek a position with one of them, please perform your own due diligence. 

This list is by no means comprehensive. For more, check out 

That’s a wrap for this month. As always, let us know if you think we’ve 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.

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