Deconstructing the Surge in Healthcare ADA Lawsuits and What to Do in 90 Days

Digital accessibility lawsuits remain a persistent risk for healthcare providers. At the same time, the HHS ruling under Section 504 now specifies WCAG 2.1 AA for recipients of HHS funding. DOJ’s Title II rule does the same for state and local governments, which include public hospitals and clinics. Compliance dates start in 2026 and extend to 2027 for smaller entities. Private Title III suits continue in parallel. Waiting raises cost and risk. The right move is a 90-day program that focuses on the highest-impact patient journeys, replaces high-risk widgets, and proves progress with verifiable fixes. This article explains what changed, why healthcare is targeted, and how to act now.

The Bottom Line

If your organization receives any form of government funding or is a public entity, the technical standard is no longer ambiguous. WCAG 2.1 AA is now the reference point for your websites and digital assets. Compliance timelines are set. Private lawsuits continue regardless of your size. Treat digital accessibility as a core compliance and patient access requirement. Begin execution now.

What Changed in The Rules

HHS Section 504. The HHS ruling updated Section 504 to include specific requirements for web content and mobile apps. The rule incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA and sets staggered compliance dates. Recipients with fifteen or more employees must meet the standard beginning in 2026. Recipients with fewer than fifteen employees have until 2027. The rule applies to what you provide directly and to what you offer through vendors and licensing arrangements.

ADA Title II. DOJ’s Title II rule now requires state and local governments to meet WCAG 2.1 AA for web and mobile. The compliance window is two or three years from April 24, 2024, depending on the population. Public hospitals, health departments, and clinics are covered.

Section 1557. The 2024 update to Section 1557 reinforces nondiscrimination requirements across digital services. It highlights access obligations for telehealth and language access. For many healthcare organizations, Section 1557 and Section 504 apply together. This means you must ensure that websites, portals, mobile apps, and kiosks are accessible, and that auxiliary aids and services such as captioning and qualified interpreters are provided as required.

Resource: HHS Final Rule on Strengthening Digital Accessibility

The Litigation Reality

The volume of ADA website and app lawsuits remains high, although reported totals vary by source because tracking methods differ. One respected tracker counted more than four thousand digital accessibility cases across federal and state courts in 2024. A leading law firm that tracks only federal filings counted 2,452 website cases the same year. Both perspectives point to persistent activity and a significant share of repeat defendants. The signal is clear. Digital properties remain a frequent target, and inaction compounds risk.

Why Healthcare is a Prime Target

Healthcare digital journeys are complex and sensitive. Patients must be able to request appointments, complete intake, access after-visit summaries, pay bills, and use telehealth. Many of these workflows rely on PDFs, embedded third-party forms, identity proofing, or scheduling widgets. If a screen reader cannot reach a button, if a keyboard user is trapped in a modal, or if a video lacks accurate captions, patients lose access, and organizations face complaints and claims. Barriers in patient portals are especially risky because they block legally protected access to care and records.

Failure Patterns to Fix First

• PDFs and forms. Static PDFs without tags, proper reading order, and form fields that expose labels and instructions will fail assistive technology. Provide accessible HTML alternatives for high-traffic tasks and remediate must-keep documents.
• Media without captions, audio descriptions, or transcripts. Caption videos and provide transcripts for audio. Prioritize clinical instructions, patient education, and help content. Accuracy matters.
• Structure and focus. Missing headings, poor focus order, and non-semantic components prevent efficient navigation. Enforce a heading hierarchy, visible focus, and ARIA used correctly.
• Contrast and targets on mobile. Low contrast and small interactive controls raise errors in the most used context. Fix these alongside the structure.
• Authentication and widgets. Third-party schedulers, chat, and identity verification tools often create keyboard and screen reader barriers. Replace or reconfigure vendors that cannot meet WCAG 2.1 AA.

Quick Fixes That Increase Risk

Overlays and toolbars that promise instant compliance do not make your content conformant to WCAG. They often add new barriers, conflict with assistive technologies, and give a false sense of security. Regulators and courts look at whether users can actually complete tasks. Invest in fixing code, content, and workflows.

Resource: The Deceptive Facade of Accessibility Overlays
Resource: Why Widget-Based Accessibility Solutions Are Failing Healthcare Organizations
Resource: Overlay Fact Sheet

A 90-Day Risk Reduction Plan

Day 0 to 14. Inventory and triage.

• Build a simple inventory of websites, apps, and high-traffic journeys. Include top templates and components. Add PDFs and video libraries.
• Publish an accessibility statement and a feedback channel that routes to a monitored inbox. Set service level targets for responses.
• Approve a one-page policy starter and a short standard for content authors and developers.

Day 15 to 45. Fix the top ten issues on the top ten templates.

• Address headings, landmarks, focus order, contrast, link purpose, and form labeling on your most visited pages and your key tasks.
• Caption and transcribe priority videos. Replace high-risk widgets or escalate vendor fixes with deadlines.
• Ensure patient portal authentication, appointment scheduling, and bill pay are operable with keyboard and screen readers.

Day 46 to 75. Verify and validate.

• Verify fixes against WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria with documented test steps. Include browser and assistive technology pairings.
• Validate critical user flows with assistive technology users and skilled testers. Confirm that users can complete the tasks without workarounds.

Day 76 to 90. Institutionalize.

• Add accessibility clauses and WCAG 2.1 AA conformance requirements to new procurement. Require a credible accessibility roadmap for existing vendors.
• Schedule quarterly reviews and set a standing backlog for remediation and content updates. Assign named owners and budgets.
• Publish a short progress update to your website and share internally. Transparency reduces complaints and builds trust.

What Your General Counsel Needs to See

• A one-page brief that states scope, applicable standards, and compliance dates. Identify which rules apply to your organization.
• A remediation log that shows defects, owners, evidence of fixes, and retest results.
• Updated contracts that require accessibility and define acceptance criteria for vendors.
• A plan to respond to complaints that includes timelines and escalation paths.

How to Measure Progress

• Reduction in critical WCAG 2.1 AA failures on priority templates and components.
• Percentage of patient education videos with accurate captions. Percentage of audio with transcripts.
• Successful assistive technology test runs of appointment scheduling and bill pay flows.
• Time to resolve accessibility complaints. Trend in patient feedback about access barriers.

Compliance dates are set. Lawsuits will continue. The right move is to address what patients use most frequently and to demonstrate progress with evidence. Commit to a 90-day plan and keep going. Digital accessibility enhances access, mitigates legal risk, and pays for itself through reduced rework and fewer complaints.