The Seventh Annual State of Digital Accessibility Report: 2025-2026

• Introduction
• Key insights
• Forewords
  • Foreword from Level Access
  • Foreword from G3ict and IAAP
• Glossary
• Methodology
• Exploring our findings
  • Strategic importance and opportunity
  • Risk factors
  • Success pillars
• Conclusion and calls to action
• Appendix: Program snapshot
• About
  • Level Access
  • G3ict and IAAP
  • Vanson Bourne

Today, digital accessibility is not an optional investment—it’s a baseline requirement. Regulations continue to tighten, and customers increasingly expect accessible experiences from the organizations that serve them. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly accelerating development workflows, forcing accessibility teams to work more efficiently than ever to meet growing demand for inclusive technology.

To understand how organizations are navigating this shifting landscape, we surveyed more than 1,600 professionals at organizations across sectors and industries in both the U.S. and European markets. Building on our research in previous years, we intentionally expanded this year’s outreach to include responses from Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands, along with additional perspective from the U.S. public sector. This broader dataset provides richer insight into the unique challenges and opportunities facing both public and private organizations in different geographic regions.

While many organizations are embracing accessibility as a strategic priority, others may remain vulnerable to legal risk due to lagging processes and tooling.

• Accessibility is a business imperative. Professionals continue to connect digital accessibility to positive business outcomes: 89% of respondents believe it provides a competitive advantage, and 75% say it contributes to improved revenue. Explore our findings on the business impact of accessibility.
• Commitment and investment remain strong. A notable 77% of respondents say their organization has a policy, accountable party, and dedicated budget for digital accessibility—three core elements of a mature program—and 68% plan to maintain or increase their budget in the year ahead. Explore our findings on investment in program maturity markers.
• AI adoption is accelerating. The majority (82%) of respondents say they’re incorporating AI tools into their accessibility strategies, and 86% say AI capabilities are an important factor in their decisions to purchase new digital accessibility solutions. These findings reflect the growing demand for AI-powered tools, like those offered by Level Access. AI adoption is strongest among organizations with three key markers of accessibility maturity: a policy, budget, and an accountable party. Explore our findings on AI adoption.
• Leadership and learning are catalysts for change. Executive buy-in and effective training remain critical to accessibility programs’ impact. Respondents at organizations with “highly supportive” executives are 25% less likely to feel at risk of legal or regulatory action and nearly seven times more likely to report revenue gains from accessibility, compared to those with “not supportive” executives. Meanwhile, respondents with highly effective training are 6 times as likely to approach accessibility proactively than those with ineffective training, and 72% more likely to say accessibility is part of their organizational culture. Both proactivity and cultural integration are common indicators of a sustainable accessibility program. Explore our findings on the impact of executive support and training.
• Maturity gaps persist. Proactive adoption of accessibility is stalling: Just 28% of respondents say their organizations begin addressing accessibility in planning, and 27% say they begin in design, both down slightly from last year. Additionally, adoption of tools that support proactive accessibility (such as design plugins), lags behind respondents’ claims of proactivity, suggesting theory may be getting ahead of practice. Explore our findings on proactive accessibility.
• Legal risk is high, especially in the U.S. public sector. Eight in 10 respondents in the U.S. public-sector (across all levels of government) say they are at risk of legal or regulatory action in the year ahead, compared to 59% of all respondents. When asked why they believe they are at risk, respondents across industries and geographies (including Europe) are most likely to cite a lack of sufficient process for meeting compliance requirements, pointing to a need to embed accessibility checks and best practices throughout the digital experience life cycle. Explore our findings on perceived legal risk.
• EAA awareness is high, but action lags. With enforcement now underway, 76% of this year’s respondents say the European Accessibility Act (EAA) applies to them, compared to 73% last year. However, only 37% report being fully compliant, suggesting readiness has not kept pace with regulatory timelines. This leaves many organizations exposed to risk, and the needs of people with disabilities unmet. Explore our findings on EAA compliance.