Accessibility in numbers

People now talk about digital accessibility in a casual and general way: It’s important for all users. Of course, that’s a fair statement, but managers, developers, and other IT professionals need numbers. One source of these numbers is reports based on automated testing of websites and applications, as well as surveys involving real users.

Here, I’ve collected sources with various statistics related to digital accessibility. Some reports focus on the technical aspects of the accessibility — for example, HTML markup and its common problems, the state of WAI-ARIA, or the websites technology stack.

The second type of statistics the result of surveys enlight the experiences of users of assistive technologies. Such data helps us understand accessibility barriers and what user strategies help overcome them. This type of data is the most important.

Another kind of statistics comes from analyzing the legal regulation and company experiences. Such reports reveal why businesses implement accessibility, what challenges they face, and what results it brings.

Behind all the numbers are real people. Studies and reports only show the tip of the iceberg. Any statistics should be adjusted for external factors and the context of their collection — social, legal, and cultural characteristics, as well as disability stigmatization. Always take the numbers from accessibility reports with a grain of salt 🧂

Technical accessibility

The WebAIM million is an annual report on the accessibility of one million of the “top” websites home pages. It compiled by WebAIM since 2019 using automated testing.

What it reveals: The main technical accessibility issues of websites.

What kind of statistics is here:

• Number of accessibility issues due to page complexity and WAI-ARIA
• Types of problems
• Page content: Contrast ratio, images, text alternatives, headings, landmarks, forms, and links
• The average number of errors, percentage increase or decrease in errors across industries, top-level domains, and site languages
• Technology stack: Content management systems (CMS), JavaScript frameworks, libraries, e-commerce platforms
• Additional observations and findings.

Web almanac is an annual HTTP Archive report about the state of the web platform, with a particular focus on accessibility. Started in 2010, all data is gathered automatically.

What it shows: Technical accessibility of websites and web content.

Statistics in the report:

• Content: contrast ratio, tables, forms, headings, images, video and audio, hidden content, and more
• Keyboard navigation
• WAI-ARIA usage
• User settings and preferences
• Accessibility overlays and alike widgets
• Statistics by country and top-level domain
• JavaScript frameworks and CMS.

Annual reports on the State of frontend and State of HTML also include dedicated sections about the state of accessibility.

Email accessibility reports is an annual study by the Email Markup Consortium (EMC) and its partners Parcel.io and Flourish. The report compiled since 2022 using automated testing.

What it uncovers: Email accessibility with a breakdown of issues by severity.

The report findings:

• Main issues in email layouts
• Popular and rare HTML and CSS features
• Status of email clients.

The state of mobile app accessibility report is a joint study by ArcTouch and Fable on 50 popular Android and iOS apps. The first and so far only report is for 2025.

What it shows: Accessibility of mobile apps for food delivery, shopping and payments, fitness, and streaming.

What statistics it includes:

• Overall comparison of Android and iOS apps
• Support for screen readers and voice control
• Accessible features
• Types of problems.

About users

WebAIM screen reader user survey is an annual survey of assistive technology users. It conducted since 2009.

What it reveals: The experiences of screen reader users, most of whom live in North America and Europe.

What kind of statistics is here:

• User demographics
• Devices and platforms usage
• Operating systems and browsers
• Screen readers: Types, user experience, interaction patterns, etc.
• Websites and apps problems.

Web accessibility survey is a survey among users with disabilities conducted by the r/CerebralPalsy, r/Autism/, and r/Disability in collaboration with Charlie Beitch and Nick Goodrum. It’s been conducted since 2023.

The report focus on: Users with disabilities from all over the world, user strategies, assistive technologies, and barriers.

The report findings:

• User demographics: Age, country, type of disability
• The impact of accessibility problems
• Internet browsing: Main browsers, devices, operating systems, etc.
• Usage of assistive technologies and other devices: Screen readers, screen magnifiers, keyboards, and more
• Accessibility settings for operating systems and browsers
• Accessibility of multimedia, ReCAPTCHA, and overlays.

Fable surveys

Fable is a platform providing outsourced accessibility audits, including user testing.

• 2024 — Media accessibility
• 2024 — Accessibility in finance
• 2023 — Mobile accessibility
• 2023 — Accessibility and AI
• 2023 — The state of online shopping for people with disabilities

What the reports highlight: Experience of advanced assistive technology users from the US and Canada.

Accessibility laws and business

The state of digital accessibility report (SODAR) is compiled jointly by Level Access, the International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP), and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict). It’s been conducted since 2019, based on surveys of service clients.

What it reveals: Regional trends in digital accessibility among companies in North America and Europe.

Key statistics:

• Accessibility status by sector
• Implementation: Motivations, challenges, strategic directions, stages, internal training for staff, etc.
• Results of implementation: Costs, benefits, and competitive advantage.

Digital trust index: The state of digital accessibility in Europe measures trust in European websites, focusing on accessibility and inclusion. It’s an annual survey run by Craftzing since 2024.

What it clarifies: How government and commercial websites comply with the European Accessibility Act (EAA).

The report findings:

• Accessibility of home pages
• Country-by-country digital accessibility ranking
• Main issues.

The state of web accessibility in 2024 is a report on 63,000 websites, researched by BuiltWith and AccessibilityChecker. Websites are tested automatically.

The report focus on: Accessibility of commercial websites and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The highlighted statistics:

• General results and accessibility scores by country and region
• Compliance across industries: E-commerce, website/blog generators, CMSs
• Distribution of compliance states across company verticals.