Web Accessibility Is Getting Worse According to the 2026 WebAIM Million Report

Each year, WebAIM analyses the accessibility of the top one million home pages on the web. The 2026 edition shows that after several years of gradual improvement, progress has reversed. Across the one million home pages analysed, WebAIM detected over 56 million distinct accessibility errors, averaging 56.1 errors per page, a 10.1% increase on 2025.

The report attributes much of this to the growing complexity of web pages, which makes maintaining website accessibility standards considerably harder to achieve and sustain. The average number of page elements reached 1,437 in 2026, a 22.5% increase in a single year and nearly double what was recorded in 2019.

What the 2026 WebAIM Million Report Found

95.9% of home pages had detectable Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 failures, up from 94.8% in 2025. Since automated tools can only detect a portion of all accessibility issues, the true rate of non-conformance across the web is likely higher. WebAIM also notes that users with disabilities would, on average, encounter an error on one in every 26 home page elements.

While the overall numbers have worsened, some areas showed marginal improvement. The proportion of pages with missing alternative text and missing document language declarations both decreased slightly compared to 2025, which suggests that awareness of at least some accessibility requirements is filtering through.

The Six Most Common Accessibility Failures

The same six error types account for 96% of all detected issues and they have remained consistent for seven consecutive years.

• Low contrast text was found on 83.9% of pages, increasing from 79.1% in 2025, with an average of 34 instances per home page.
• Missing alternative text for images affected 53.1% of pages, with more than one in four linked images lacking any descriptive text.
• Missing form input labels were present on 51% of pages, reversing a modest downward trend from previous years.
• Empty links appeared on 46.3% of pages, where anchor elements contain no text to describe their destination.
• Empty buttons were found on 30.6% of pages, providing no indication to assistive technology of what the button does.
• Missing document language declarations still affected 13.5% of pages, despite being one of the more straightforward issues to address.

Low contrast text, unlabelled inputs and non-descriptive link text all create barriers for people using screen readers, keyboard navigation or other assistive technology. The fact that these same issues have headed the list for seven years indicates that the challenge for most organisations is not awareness of the requirements but the consistent application of them during development and ongoing maintenance.

Is AI-Assisted Development a Factor?

WebAIM’s conclusion points to shifts in how websites are being built as a likely contributor to the deterioration. Increased reliance on third-party frameworks, JavaScript libraries and AI-assisted development practices (sometimes referred to as “vibe coding”) appears to be making it harder to maintain accessibility standards at scale.

ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) usage increased 27% in a single year and is now more than six times higher than it was in 2019. Pages with ARIA present averaged 59.1 errors, compared to 42 on pages without it. ARIA is a valuable tool when implemented correctly, but the data suggests it is frequently being applied without the depth of understanding its correct use requires. This is worth bearing in mind for development workflows that lean heavily on automated code generation, which can produce output quickly without necessarily accounting for the contextual judgements that accessible implementation demands.

How WordPress Sites Compare

WordPress-powered home pages in the study averaged 52.8 errors, placing them 5.8% below the overall average. For comparison, Shopify pages averaged 75.1 errors and Magento pages 75.8, both notably above the mean. That said, 52.8 errors per page still represents a substantial accessibility deficit and platform choice alone does not determine outcomes.

Bespoke, hand-coded WordPress development gives teams significantly more control over accessibility than relying on page builders or off-the-shelf themes, where implementation quality varies considerably. Our WordPress development process builds around WCAG 2.2 compliance as a standard, with accessibility considered throughout the build rather than reviewed at the end.

What the Report Tells Us About Accessibility Practices

One of the more interesting data points in the report is the correlation between cookie compliance technology usage and lower error counts. Websites using tools such as OneTrust averaged 34.6 errors, well below the overall average of 56.1. WebAIM suggests this may reflect a broader relationship between compliance discipline in one area and more careful practices across an organisation.

Whether your organisation operates in the public sector, healthcare or another regulated industry, WCAG compliance carries specific legal and regulatory obligations. But accessibility standards apply more broadly than that, and the long-term case for building accessible websites rests on giving all users equal access to content and functionality, not only on meeting minimum requirements.

The 2026 WebAIM Million report is a useful benchmark and the consistency of its findings over seven years makes clear where the most immediate improvements can be made. Addressing the six most common failure types, covering contrast, alternative text, form labels, links, buttons and document language, would have a measurable positive effect on the accessibility of the wider web.

If you would like to understand how your website performs against WCAG 2.2 or you are planning a new build and want accessibility built in from the start, get in touch with our team.