Why online stores get sued: accessibility and tracking suits in 2026
The numbers behind ecommerce lawsuits, what plaintiffs test, what widgets don't stop, and the tracking claims that survive SB 690.
Key takeaways
- Ecommerce was about 70% of digital accessibility suits in 2025, and about 1 in 4 stores sued had a widget installed.
- Wiretap claims over pixels, chat and session replay continue after SB 690.
The most-sued kind of website
UsableNet (opens in a new tab) put ecommerce at about 70% of the more than 5,000 suits it counted in 2025, and 64% of defendants had under $25 million in revenue. EcomBack's 2025 report (opens in a new tab) counted 1,362 suits against custom builds, 1,318 against Shopify stores and 808 against WordPress.
Courts still disagree on whether the ADA covers online-only stores.
What plaintiffs test
- Images without alt text, so a product grid reads as file names.
- Unlabeled form fields in search, cart and checkout.
- Unnamed buttons, like icon-only cart and menu buttons.
All three are machine-detectable, and the cheapest to fix.
Widgets don't stop suits
EcomBack counted 983 suits against sites with a widget installed, and the FTC's final order (opens in a new tab) made accessiBe pay $1 million over its compliance claims.
The privacy suits: pixels, chat and GPC
- Global Privacy Control is a valid CCPA opt-out; Tractor Supply paid $1.35 million partly over opt-outs that didn't work.
- Wiretap claims under Section 631 survive SB 690, at $5,000 per violation.
- Video: product videos plus a Meta Pixel can raise Video Privacy Protection Act claims, now before the Supreme Court in *Salazar v. Paramount*.
- Europe: the European Accessibility Act has covered EU ecommerce since June 28, 2025.
What to fix first
- Fix images, labels and button names on every page.
- Test checkout with a keyboard and screen reader, payment widgets included.
- Hold pixels and session replay until consent, and honor Global Privacy Control.
- Re-check after every theme or app change.
ComplyMo covers steps 3 and 4 from one line of code, and audits every page for step 1 on Growth and up. See ComplyMo for online stores.
General information, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with counsel.