By Renee Dunn, CPACC of Elevage Digital
Cost #1: You can be sued for having a website that is not accessible! In 2025, we saw the largest number of website accessibility lawsuits in one year and experts predict even more in 2026.
Settlement amounts are usually confidential, but estimates range from $5,000 to $50,000. Additionally, you will have to pay for your lawyer and often the plaintiff’s lawyer. This can cost your business another $50,000.
Most settlements require that you fix your website within months. You can even be sued multiple times by different plaintiffs until issues on your site are resolved. Roughly 25% of accessibility lawsuits each month are against organizations that have already been sued before.
Cost #2: If your website is not accessible, you are potentially losing customers and revenue. Approximately 1 in 4 people have a disability and people with disabilities represent an estimated $500 billion in disposable income in the US alone. In addition to using their purchasing power to support accessible companies, they will share their experiences with family and friends who may redirect their own spending. One study showed businesses saw up to 28% revenue growth from investing in accessibility. A 2022 Forrester study showed that every $1 spent on accessibility could have an ROI of $100. A 2024 Aquia study found that 64% of respondents would consider switching to a competitor’s site if it offered better accessibility. Businesses that get sued may lose up to 30% of their revenue due to bad PR.
Acquiring new customers costs more than retaining existing ones. Ignoring accessibility can cost businesses more money to find new customers.
Cost #3: Having an inaccessible website may be costing your business SEO rankings and AI citations. Accessibility requirements for HTML headings, image alt text and video transcripts help search bots and LLMs better index and understand your content. If you aren’t showing up in these tools, it may be costing your business in the form of lost leads.
Cost #4: Eligible businesses can get tax credits for expenses related to making their website accessible. Businesses can get a tax credit of up to $5,000 each year for
accessibility related expenses. If your business is not taking advantage, it may be costing you more in taxes each year.
Conclusion
While the exact costs will vary for each organization, ignoring accessibility will have both tangible and indirect costs. The cost of proactively investing in accessibility can far outweigh the costs of lawsuits and lost revenue.
Renee Dunn