{"id":226,"slug":"accessibility-95pct-fail-wcag-40pct-pro-se-ai","title":"Accessibility: 95% of sites fail basic WCAG; 40% of new federal ADA filings are pro se (AI-assisted)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["regulatory-compliance","accessibility"],"reference_body":"**Claims (Accessibility.Works analysis, citing Seyfarth Shaw):**\n\n> \"According to Seyfarth Shaw, **40% of federal ADA Title III filings are now pro se**\" — driven by AI-assisted complaints.\n> Companion: \"**95% of websites fail basic WCAG tests**.\"\n\n**Source:** Accessibility.Works analysis; Seyfarth Shaw federal litigation data.\n\n**Confidence:** Verified (cross-corroborated by UsableNet).\n\n**The structural shift:** Litigation volume is decoupling from law-firm capacity. **AI-drafted complaints lower the cost of filing**, which raises the volume of cases without requiring more plaintiff-side legal resources. A small business with a sub-WCAG site is no longer protected by the friction of \"no one will sue me, I'm too small\" — the marginal cost of filing has fallen.\n\nPairs with [[usablenet-2025-5000-ada-lawsuits-46pct-repeat]] for the macro trend.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"usablenet-2025-5000-ada-lawsuits-46pct-repeat","title":"UsableNet 2025: 5,000+ digital accessibility lawsuits filed; 46% of federal cases involve repeat defendants","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"rule-accessibility-is-architecture-not-overlay","title":"RULE: Accessibility is architecture, not an overlay. Never sell or install an accessibility overlay widget.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"research-brief-built-to-last","title":"Research brief: Built to Last — why most SMB sites rebuild every 3-4 years (piece 5 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T19:58:12.851Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T19:58:12.851Z"}