The Accessibility Revolution: How AI and Legal Pressure are Reshaping Web Design
Something interesting happened in late 2024 – accessibility lawsuits dropped by 12%, but accessibility implementations surged by 340%. This wasn't coincidence. Companies finally realized that proactive design costs significantly less than reactive legal fees. Meanwhile, AI-powered accessibility tools have become sophisticated enough to catch issues that manual audits often miss. Chrome's built-in accessibility scanner now identifies 89% of WCAG violations automatically, and screen readers are getting smarter about interpreting dynamic content. What we're seeing is accessibility shifting from compliance checkbox to competitive advantage.