Accessibility News - July
2026 WebAIM Million Report Shows Accessibility Errors Increase Across the Web
The 2026 WebAIM Million report has been released, providing one of the largest annual snapshots of web accessibility across the world's top one million home pages. Now in its eighth year, the report analyses detectable accessibility issues, offering valuable insight into how well websites support people with disability and how accessibility trends are changing over time.
This year's findings show a concerning reversal in recent progress. Researchers detected more than 56 million accessibility errors across the analysed home pages, averaging 56.1 errors per page, a 10% increase compared with the 2025 report. Detectable WCAG failures were found on 95.9% of home pages, suggesting that fewer than one in twenty websites are likely to meet WCAG 2 Level A and AA requirements when considering only issues that can be identified automatically.
Some of the most common barriers remain consistent with previous years. Low colour contrast continues to be the most prevalent issue, affecting 83.9% of home pages and making content more difficult to read for many users with low vision. Forms also continue to present significant challenges, with one-third of form inputs missing appropriate labels, reducing usability for people who rely on assistive technologies. Heading structure issues, including skipped heading levels and multiple <h1> elements, also remain common, limiting effective navigation for screen reader users.
The report also highlights a significant increase in the use of ARIA, with over 133 ARIA attributes detected per page on average, a 27% increase in just one year. While ARIA is designed to improve accessibility, pages using ARIA were also found to have substantially more detected accessibility errors than those without it, reinforcing the first rule of ARIA is not to use ARIA.
The WebAIM Million report continues to demonstrate that many accessibility barriers are well understood and readily identifiable, yet remain widespread across the web. These findings provide an important benchmark for organisations and reinforce the need to combine accessible design, robust development practices, and testing with people with disability to create genuinely inclusive digital experiences.
Read the full 2026 WebAIM Million report for more detailed findings and methodology.
Digital Accessibility Software Market Forecast to Reach USD 1.58 Billion by 2035
The global market for digital accessibility software is expected to continue its steady growth, with new research forecasting the sector will increase from an estimated USD 0.91 billion in 2026 to USD 1.58 billion by 2035, representing growth rate of 6.82%.
The report attributes this growth to increasing accessibility regulations, expanding digital services, and greater recognition of accessibility as both a compliance requirement and a business priority.
Organisations are increasingly viewing accessibility as an essential component of digital quality. Beyond helping meet legal and regulatory requirements, accessible digital experiences improve usability, extend audience reach, and contribute to more inclusive customer and employee experiences.
Organisations across government, healthcare, education, financial services, retail, and technology are investing more heavily in accessibility tools as digital services continue to expand.
The report also identifies the Asia-Pacific region as the fastest-growing market, reflecting continued digital transformation and increasing awareness of inclusive design.
While automation continues to improve, it is important to recognise its limitations. Automated tools can only identify a subset of accessibility issues and cannot determine whether a digital experience is genuinely usable by people with disability. Many accessibility issues still require human evaluation, including keyboard interaction, screen reader usability, meaningful alternative text, logical focus management, and overall user experience. Testing with people with disability remains an essential part of delivering accessible digital products.