A federal deadline, April 24, 2026, will be implemented by the Department of Justice, requiring state and local government entities to bring their websites into compliance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the web accessibility standard mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act. This rule does not cover private businesses. According to the 2026 WebAIM Million report, 95.9% of homepages have at least one detectable WCAG2 error, which has gone up over the past year. The businesses sued are not household names, with 77% of defendants having annual revenues under $25 million. Food-service businesses were sued more than any other industry in 2025, with food industry accounting for 34.65% of all lawsuits (1,368 cases). Food and beverage industries were targeted more heavily due to multiple issues of accessibility, including product images without alt text, low-contrast buttons, and checkout forms that don't work with screen readers. The cost of lawsuits settling out of court typically lands between $25,000 and $30,000, not including attorney fees, website remediation costs, or monitoring requirements. The most common violations were product images, and shopping, home goods retailers, and online pharmacies, and health platforms.