Yes, you absolutely can be sued multiple times over website accessibility issues. Some website owners mistakenly think that just because they’ve been sued once – and entered into a settlement – they won’t be sued again. This is not the case.
We’ve not only seen website owners sued twice – sometimes they’re sued again by the same law firm.
This is yet another reminder to prioritize accessibility and work strategically and aggressively. We have created the War Room Strategy Session specifically for this.
Understanding Multiple Lawsuits
When it comes to website accessibility litigation, previous settlements typically don’t protect you from future lawsuits. Here’s why:
Limited Settlement Scope
Most settlement agreements are limited to:
- The specific plaintiff involved in the case
- The specific issues identified in the complaint
- A point-in-time evaluation of your website
Settlement agreements are typically between you and a single plaintiff (or class). They don’t prevent other plaintiffs from bringing similar claims against you.
New Issues Can Arise
Even if you remediated all issues from a previous lawsuit, you can easily re-introduce new issues through any number of changes:
- Content updates
- New features added
- Design refreshes
- Third-party integrations
- CMS updates or migrations
Real-World Patterns
Plaintiffs’ law firms have demonstrated three common approaches to repeated litigation:
- Different Plaintiff, Same Website: A different plaintiff represented by the same law firm sues over identical or similar issues
- Same Plaintiff, New Issues: The original plaintiff brings a new lawsuit claiming new or ongoing issues
- Related Companies: If you operate multiple websites or brands, each one might be targeted separately
Once you show up on the radar of plaintiffs’ law firms, you can stay on the radar which means it’s important you limit accessibility issues and, optimally, maintain WCAG 2.1 AA conformance.
Limit Lawsuits
If you haven’t been sued yet, that’s great news. There are steps you can take right now to significantly reduce your risk of every being sued.
If you have been sued, we take the approach of let’s make this a one-and-done so it never happens again.
We’ve seen so many large corporations including Container Store, Petsmart, and others – who have hired large digital accessibility companies – nevertheless get sued repeatedly and unnecessarily so.
What many people don’t know is that most digital accessibility companies don’t truly understand how to prevent lawsuits; they don’t tell you what issues to fix immediately. Instead, they put their customers through a drawn out bureaucratic process that only delays fixing critical issues.
This is why we’ve created the War Room and ADA Compliance Course – this critical information is key to significantly reducing lawsuit risk.
Settlement Terms
Recent settlements typically include requirements for:
- WCAG 2.1 AA conformance within a specified timeframe (usually 12-24 months)
- Regular auditing by an independent consultant
- Accessibility training for staff
- Ongoing maintenance and monitoring
- Progress reporting
Settlement amounts usually range between $5,000 and $20,000 and then there’s also the cost of fulfilling the non-money settlement terms.
Summary
You can 100% be sued more than once over website accessibility.
The best practices for preventing a complaint being filed or demand letter being sent is WCAG 2.1 AA conformance and publishing an accessibility statement. The accessibility statement is a quick bullet point, but making your website fully WCAG 2.1 AA conformant takes time and this is where strategy and an aggressive approach are so important.
Join the War Room to get our very best advice for making sure you’re never sued or sued again over website accessibility.
