WebAIM Million 2025: Why 94.8% of Websites Still Fail Accessibility
Seven years of research. 15,000+ lawsuits. Billions spent on accessibility solutions. And yet 94.8% of websites are still broken for people with disabilities. Here's what the WebAIM Million 2025 report reveals — and why progress has been so slow.
Key Findings — WebAIM Million 2025
- 94.8% of home pages have detectable WCAG failures
- 51 errors per page on average (50.9 million total)
- Only 3.1% improvement in 7 years (from 97.8% in 2019)
- 96% of all errors fall into just 6 categories
- 2x more errors on pages with ARIA code present
The Numbers: 51 Errors Per Page
In February 2025, WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind) released its seventh annual accessibility analysis of the top 1 million home pages on the web. The results are sobering.
50,960,288 accessibility errors
detected across 1 million home pages
51
average errors per page
To put this in perspective: users with disabilities would expect to encounter errors on 1 in every 24 elements on the average website home page.
This represents a 10.3% decrease from the 2024 analysis (which found 56.8 errors per page). That sounds like progress — until you zoom out and look at the seven-year trend.
Seven Years of Minimal Progress
WebAIM has conducted this analysis every year since 2019. Here's what's changed — and what hasn't:
| Year | Pages with WCAG Failures | Avg Errors/Page | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 97.8% | 60.9 | — |
| 2020 | 98.1% | 60.9 | +0.3pp worse |
| 2021 | 97.4% | 51.4 | −0.7pp better |
| 2022 | 96.8% | 50.8 | −0.6pp better |
| 2023 | 96.3% | 50.0 | −0.5pp better |
| 2024 | 95.9% | 56.8 | −0.4pp better |
| 2025 | 94.8% | 51.0 | −1.1pp better |
| Total Change (2019 → 2025) | −3.0pp improvement | ||
The Harsh Reality
After seven years of accessibility advocacy, 15,000+ lawsuits, increased awareness, and billions spent on accessibility solutions, only 3.1% fewer websites have WCAG failures.
At this rate of progress (roughly 0.5 percentage points per year), it would take until 2215 for the web to reach full accessibility compliance.
That's 189 years from now.
The Same Six Issues Dominate
Perhaps the most frustrating finding: 96% of all detected errors fall into just six categories. The same six categories that have dominated for the last five years.
1. Low Contrast Text (79.1% of sites)
Text that doesn't meet WCAG 2 AA contrast thresholds. The average home page has 29.6 instances of low-contrast text. This makes content illegible for users with low vision or color blindness.
Fix: Use a color contrast checker to ensure 4.5:1 ratio for body text, 3:1 for large text.
2. Missing Alternative Text (55.5% of sites)
Images without alt attributes. The average home page has 58.6 images, and 11 of them are missing alt text. 44% of missing alt text occurs on linked images — creating links that screen readers can't describe.
Fix: Add descriptive alt="" to every image. For decorative images, use alt="" (empty but present).
3. Missing Form Input Labels (48.2% of sites)
Form inputs without proper labels. 34.2% of form inputs on the average page lack <label>, aria-label, aria-labelledby, or title. This makes forms unusable for screen reader users.
Fix: Every form input needs a visible <label> element or aria-label.
4. Empty Links (45.4% of sites)
Links with no text content. Often icon-only links (e.g., social media icons) without aria-label. Screen readers announce these as "link" with no description.
Fix: Add aria-label="Facebook" to icon-only links, or use visually-hidden text.
5. Empty Buttons (29.6% of sites)
Buttons with no accessible name. Similar to empty links — often icon buttons (hamburger menus, close buttons) without text or aria-label.
Fix: Add aria-label="Menu" to icon-only buttons.
6. Missing Document Language (15.8% of sites)
HTML pages without lang attribute. This prevents screen readers from using the correct pronunciation and language settings.
Fix: Add <html lang="en"> to your HTML tag.
The Silver Lining
Addressing just these six issue types would significantly improve accessibility across the web. These aren't obscure edge cases — they're fundamental, well-documented, easily fixable problems.
And yet 94.8% of websites still haven't fixed them.
Why Has Progress Been So Slow?
If the most common accessibility errors are well-known and easily fixable, why has progress been so glacial? The WebAIM Million report identifies three critical factors:
1. Website Complexity Is Exploding
The average home page now contains 1,257 elements — a 61% increase since 2019. Pages are adding complexity faster than they're fixing accessibility.
Home Page Complexity Growth (2019 → 2025)
- 2019: 782 elements per page
- 2021: 924 elements (+18%)
- 2023: 1088 elements (+39%)
- 2025: 1257 elements (+61%)
More elements = more opportunities for accessibility errors. The error rate per element is improving, but total errors remain high because pages keep getting bigger.
2. ARIA Misuse Is Rampant
ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is supposed to improve accessibility. In practice, it's making things worse.
The ARIA Paradox
Home pages with ARIA present had over twice as many errors (57 on average) compared to pages without ARIA (27 on average).
ARIA usage has increased 5x since 2019 — from 21 ARIA attributes per page to 106 per page. The more ARIA attributes present, the more accessibility errors detected.
Why? ARIA is complex and easy to misuse. aria-hidden="true" usage has increased 250% since 2020. Developers are hiding content from screen readers without understanding the implications.
35% of ARIA menus (role="menu") introduce accessibility barriers due to missing required markup and keyboard interactions.
3. JavaScript Frameworks Introduce Barriers
Nearly all popular JavaScript frameworks correlate with increased accessibility errors:
| Framework | Avg Errors | vs. Average (51) |
|---|---|---|
| AngularJS | 37.7 | −26% (better) |
| Next.js | 38.6 | −24% (better) |
| React | 42.4 | −17% (better) |
| Vue.js | 58.7 | +15% (worse) |
| Angular | 70.7 | +39% (worse) |
| Firebase | 74.6 | +47% (worse) |
| Redux | 78.2 | +53% (worse) |
The presence of Bootstrap (used on 236,393 pages) correlated with 12.2 more errors than average. jQuery (594,255 pages) added 10.1 more errors on average.
Popular carousel libraries are particularly problematic:
- Swiper: 73.6 errors (+44%)
- OWL Carousel: 81.3 errors (+60%)
- FancyBox: 82.9 errors (+63%)
- Slick: 78.0 errors (+53%)
These libraries are chosen for their visual effects and developer convenience — not accessibility. And they're dragging the web down.
Industry Breakdown: Shopping Sites Are Worst
The WebAIM Million report analyzed sites by category. The differences are stark:
Best Performing Industries
- Government: 37.2 errors (−27%)
- Personal Finance: 37.7 errors (−26%)
- Non-Profit/Charity: 40.0 errors (−22%)
- Law/Politics: 40.5 errors (−21%)
- Technology: 41.8 errors (−18%)
Worst Performing Industries
- Shopping: 71.2 errors (+40%)
- Sports: 66.3 errors (+30%)
- Style & Fashion: 64.7 errors (+27%)
- Home & Garden: 61.9 errors (+22%)
- Travel: 59.7 errors (+17%)
E-commerce Is Failing Accessibility
Shopping websites have the worst accessibility on the web with 71.2 errors per page — 40% worse than average. This is particularly concerning because 70% of ADA lawsuits target e-commerce sites.
Government sites perform best because they're subject to Section 508 requirements and have dedicated accessibility staff. Commercial sites — especially those prioritizing visual design and conversion optimization — lag behind.
E-commerce Platforms
If you're running an online store, your platform choice matters:
- Shopify: 69.6 errors (+37%)
- WooCommerce: 75.6 errors (+48%)
- Magento: 85.4 errors (+67%)
All three major e-commerce platforms introduce significantly more accessibility errors than average. None of them produce accessible stores by default — you need to actively fix issues in your theme and customizations.
Technology Impact: ARIA and JavaScript
Content Management Systems
Your CMS choice has a major impact on accessibility:
| CMS | Sites Analyzed | Avg Errors | vs. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Divi | 8,672 | 27.6 | −46% (best) |
| Webflow | 10,277 | 28.4 | −44% |
| Adobe Experience Manager | 5,425 | 30.7 | −40% |
| Drupal | 19,257 | 41.9 | −18% |
| WordPress | 241,401 | 50.0 | −2% (average) |
| Elementor | 51,205 | 51.1 | +0% (average) |
| wpBakery | 17,576 | 63.5 | +25% |
| 1C-Bitrix | 11,706 | 97.0 | +90% (worst) |
WordPress (241,401 sites analyzed) performs roughly average at 50.0 errors per page. Divi and Webflow are significantly better. wpBakery and 1C-Bitrix are significantly worse.
Advertisement Networks
Pages that utilize almost any popular ad system have more errors on average:
- AdSense: 65.5 errors (+29%)
- Twitter Ads: 67.6 errors (+33%)
- Criteo: 80.7 errors (+58%)
- Yandex: 89.5 errors (+76%)
The data suggest that ads were among the strongest harbingers of accessibility errors. Every ad network tested correlated with increased accessibility barriers.
ReCAPTCHA
14% of pages had ReCAPTCHA, and these pages had 12.1 more errors than average. reCAPTCHA is notoriously inaccessible — the audio challenge is often unintelligible, and the image challenge is impossible for blind users.
What This Means for Businesses
The WebAIM Million 2025 report paints a grim picture. But it also reveals critical insights for businesses:
1. Most Competitors Are Failing Too
If 94.8% of websites have accessibility failures, that means your competitors are almost certainly non-compliant. This is both a risk (the lawsuit pool is large) and an opportunity (fixing accessibility is a genuine competitive differentiator).
2. The Six Common Errors Are Low-Hanging Fruit
96% of errors fall into six categories. You don't need to become a WCAG expert overnight — just fix the big six first:
- Check and fix color contrast
- Add alt text to all images
- Label all form inputs
- Give empty links/buttons accessible names
- Set document language
Addressing these issues alone would move you into the top 5% of websites.
3. Complexity Is Your Enemy
Every JavaScript framework, every ARIA attribute, every ad network, every third-party widget — they're all correlated with increased accessibility errors.
The simplest path to accessibility: reduce complexity. Use semantic HTML. Avoid unnecessary JavaScript. Question whether you really need that carousel library.
4. Overlays Won't Save You
The report analyzed millions of pages, including those using accessibility overlay widgets. The 94.8% failure rate persists despite widespread overlay adoption.
Overlays don't fix your source code. They add ARIA on top of inaccessible markup — and as we've seen, ARIA misuse makes things worse, not better.
5. You Can't Automate Your Way Out
Automated testing tools (like WAVE, which WebAIM used for this study) can only detect 25-30% of accessibility issues. The full WCAG 2 A/AA conformance rate is certainly lower than 94.8%.
Automated tools are essential for finding the big six issues. But genuine accessibility requires manual testing with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and real user feedback.
How to Escape the 94.8%
The WebAIM Million report is a wake-up call. Here's how to ensure your website isn't part of the 94.8%:
Step 1: Test Your Website Now
Run your site through RatedWithAI's free accessibility scanner. Get a detailed report on detected WCAG failures, low-contrast text, missing alt text, and unlabeled forms.
Scan Your Website Free →Step 2: Fix the Big Six First
Don't get overwhelmed by the full WCAG 2.2 spec. Start with the issues that affect 96% of detected errors:
✓ Color Contrast
Use our color contrast checker to verify all text meets 4.5:1 ratio (3:1 for large text ≥18pt).
✓ Image Alt Text
Every <img> needs an alt attribute. Describe the image's content/function. Use alt="" for decorative images.
✓ Form Labels
Every <input>, <select>, and <textarea> needs a visible <label> or aria-label.
✓ Empty Links & Buttons
Icon-only links/buttons need aria-label="descriptive text" or visually-hidden text.
✓ Document Language
Add <html lang="en"> to your HTML tag (or appropriate language code).
Step 3: Manual Testing
Automated tools find the obvious issues. Manual testing finds the rest:
- Keyboard navigation: Can you reach every interactive element with Tab? Can you activate it with Enter/Space?
- Screen reader testing: Try NVDA (free), JAWS, or VoiceOver. Can you complete core tasks?
- Zoom to 200%: Does your layout break? Is content hidden or overlapping?
- Color blindness simulation: Use browser DevTools to simulate different types of color vision deficiency.
Step 4: Ongoing Monitoring
Accessibility isn't a one-time fix. New content, redesigns, third-party scripts — they all introduce new barriers.
Set Up Automated Monitoring
RatedWithAI Pro runs automated scans on your schedule (daily/weekly) and alerts you when new accessibility issues are detected — before they become lawsuits.
Step 5: Document Your Efforts
Create an accessibility statement documenting:
- Your commitment to accessibility
- Conformance level targeted (WCAG 2.2 Level AA)
- Known issues and remediation timeline
- Contact information for accessibility feedback
An accessibility statement demonstrates good faith effort — which can reduce legal exposure even if your site isn't perfect.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many websites fail WCAG accessibility according to WebAIM Million 2025?
94.8% of the top 1 million home pages have detectable WCAG 2 A/AA conformance failures according to the February 2025 WebAIM Million report. This is a minimal improvement from 95.9% in 2024 and 97.8% in 2019.
How many accessibility errors are on the average website?
The average website home page contains 51 distinct accessibility errors according to the 2025 WebAIM Million analysis. Across all 1 million pages analyzed, 50,960,288 total errors were detected — an average of 51 errors per page.
What are the most common accessibility errors on websites?
The six most common accessibility errors are:
- Low contrast text (79.1% of sites)
- Missing alt text for images (55.5%)
- Missing form input labels (48.2%)
- Empty links (45.4%)
- Empty buttons (29.6%)
- Missing document language (15.8%)
These six categories account for 96% of all errors detected by the WebAIM Million analysis.
Does ARIA code improve website accessibility?
Surprisingly, no. Home pages with ARIA present had over twice as many errors (57 on average) compared to pages without ARIA (27 on average). ARIA usage has increased 5x since 2019 to an average of 106 ARIA attributes per page, but it often introduces more accessibility barriers when implemented incorrectly.
Which industries have the worst website accessibility?
Shopping websites have the worst accessibility with 71.2 errors per page on average (39.8% worse than average). Other poorly-performing industries include:
- Sports: 66.3 errors (+30%)
- Style & Fashion: 64.7 errors (+27%)
- Home & Garden: 61.9 errors (+22%)
- Travel: 59.7 errors (+17%)
Government sites perform best with only 37.2 errors per page (27% better than average) due to Section 508 requirements.
Which JavaScript frameworks have the best accessibility?
Among major frameworks:
- Best: AngularJS (37.7 errors), Next.js (38.6 errors), React (42.4 errors)
- Worst: Angular (70.7 errors), Firebase (74.6 errors), Redux (78.2 errors)
However, nearly all JavaScript frameworks correlate with increased accessibility issues compared to simple HTML.
Why has accessibility barely improved despite 7 years of lawsuits?
The WebAIM Million report identifies three main reasons:
- Website complexity is exploding: 61% increase in page elements since 2019
- ARIA code misuse has skyrocketed: 5x increase in ARIA usage, often implemented incorrectly
- Popular frameworks introduce barriers: JavaScript libraries and frameworks correlate with higher error rates
The rate of website complexity is outpacing accessibility improvements.
How can my business escape the 94.8% failure rate?
Focus on fixing the six most common errors first:
- Ensure sufficient color contrast (4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text)
- Add alt text to all images
- Label all form inputs with visible labels
- Give empty links/buttons accessible names via
aria-label - Set document language (
<html lang="en">) - Reduce website complexity and avoid unnecessary JavaScript
Use automated testing tools for detection, but rely on manual testing and code-level fixes — not accessibility overlays — for genuine compliance.
Don't Be Part of the 94.8%
Scan your website for free and get a detailed accessibility report in under 60 seconds. Fix the issues that 94.8% of websites are ignoring.
Get Your Free Accessibility Report →Related Articles
Best Accessibility Testing Tools Compared (2026)
12 tools reviewed: axe-core, WAVE, Lighthouse, Pa11y, and more
Screen Reader Testing Guide: NVDA, JAWS & VoiceOver
6-step methodology + 50+ keyboard shortcuts
15,000+ ADA Lawsuits: Inside the "Sue-and-Settle" Model
Boston 25 investigation reveals serial plaintiffs filing 383 cases each
Accessibility Widgets: Do They Actually Work?
Why overlays fail and what to do instead
Sources:
- WebAIM Million 2025 Report — The official WebAIM analysis of 1 million home pages (February 2025)
- Horlix — WebAIM Million 2025 Analysis
- DesignRush — WCAG 2 Accessibility Failures 2025
- WeAreDevelopers — State of Accessibility on the Web 2025
Last updated: March 5, 2026