There’s a lot happening in the realm of digital accessibility. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), a landmark piece of legislation requiring equal access for people with disabilities, took effect on June 28th.  It requires new products and services sold in the EU to be accessible, with deadlines for existing products coming in 2030. Businesses that don’t comply risk being fined. Unfortunately, recent data suggests most organizations aren’t ready. For example:  

  • Just 60% of design professionals say that their firm’s executives are committed to creating accessible products and that work to deliver on that commitment is underway, according to Forrester data.  What’s worse, less than 50% of these “committed” organizations are implementing best practices such as conducting accessibility reviews of design concepts or making accessibility a formal requirement on projects.  
  • A whopping 93% of European websites fail accessibility requirements, less than a 1% improvement from the prior year, according to Craftzing’s 2025 Digital Trust Index. 
  • In the US, where lawsuits are the primary mechanism for enforcing accessibility laws, lawsuits are on track to increase by 20% in 2025 according to UsableNet’s midyear accessibility lawsuit report.  Many US-based businesses also sell in the EU, making it even more vital that they shore up their accessibility practices.  

This comes at a time when there is more digital content to make accessible than ever before due to the proliferation of AI-generated content.  While not the only ingredient for an effective accessibility program, having the right accessibility technologies in place is critical, and evaluating the options available is the focus of my current research.  

What’s A Digital Accessibility Platform?  

While free accessibility testing tools exist, they don’t enable the testing and monitoring necessary to create accessible experiences at scale in an enterprise organization. Digital accessibility platforms (DAPs) help organizations integrate and scale the practices required to achieve and maintain compliance with accessibility standards. Forrester defines digital accessibility platforms as: 

Platforms used by companies to identify accessibility issues, facilitate remediation of issues, and monitor and report on the accessibility of their digital experiences. 

DAPs help organizations achieve and maintain compliance with accessibility requirements set by the EAA and other laws and regulations in regions the organization operates in. Specifically, they help organizations:  

  • Conduct automated and manual accessibility testing. DAPs facilitate the accurate detection and speedy remediation of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) violations and accessibility best practices. To do this, these platforms use a combination of automated testing, guided manual testing, and — in a few instances — usability testing. While all DAPs offer static guidance on how to fix issues, many now include AI-generated remediation suggestions as well. 
  • Prevent accessibility issues during design and development. The cheapest and most effective path to an accessible experience is to prevent accessibility barriers in the first place. Many DAPs include tools to help developers test and fix issues when coding in their integrated development environment (IDE), reviewing a pull request, or conducting unit testing, for example. Some include tools for designers to test their work in design workflow tools such as Figma.  
  • Monitor and report on compliance with accessibility standards. A DAP helps the employees managing accessibility programs measure progress by understanding where each digital experience stands, how health scores and issue types are trending over time, and what the organization’s overall progress is. It provides companies with the data needed to demonstrate compliance and meet contractual requirements when selling products to companies or government organizations that require accessibility. 

My latest Digital Accessibility Platforms Landscape report helps you understand the benefits you can expect from a DAP and decide what platform is right for your company.  While this report highlights the 15 largest DAP vendors, I recommend buyers also keep an eye on smaller, emerging vendors based in the EU such as Accessibility Cloud and InSuit, whose platforms are more tailor-made for that market.  

Up Next: The DAP Forrester Wave Evaluation  

Next on my research agenda is a Forrester Wave. This in-depth evaluation of the top DAP vendors will serve as a detailed guide for buyers considering their options.   

Get In Touch 

If you’re a Forrester client, check out the full report here: The Digital Accessibility Platforms Landscape, Q2 2025.  Then, if you’d like to talk about which Digital Accessibility Platform is right for you, set up a conversation with me.  You can also follow or connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like.