The State of Digital Quality in Accessibility 2026

In a world that increasingly prioritizes digital interactions and experiences, the human element is all too easy to forget. Especially when those humans have characteristics, needs or behaviors that differ from the majority of users. Most people who encounter software defects find them frustrating or irritating. But for the 1.3 billion people living with some form of disability, when software development and test teams ignore or disregard their digital experiences, the results can be isolating and even discriminatory.

AI tools are becoming embedded into software development and testing processes — including digital accessibility and inclusive design efforts. But in a discipline where empathy and focus on the end user are essential, is AI truly improving accessibility? Explore the findings from this year’s digital accessibility survey.

In a survey of more than 500 software development, QA, product, compliance and accessibility professionals, 79% reported that the organizations where they work are using AI to improve digital accessibility in their websites and applications. Teams are using AI code assist to help address existing issues and develop accessible new features. AI’s ability to quickly generate captions, transcripts and alt text for images is also proving useful — though the quality of AI outputs can vary wildly.

Like their automated counterparts, AI accessibility scanning tools can create the illusion of thorough coverage as teams work to conduct comprehensive audits for conformance. As AI tools get smarter and learn over time, they may eventually deliver more accurate results.

How accurate do teams rate AI accessibility scans?

Though the majority of respondents reported that their AI tools accurately identify 50% or more of accessibility issues, 89.3% still validate those test results with human testers.

William Reuschel, Inclusive Design Practice Lead at Applause, is cautiously optimistic about AI’s potential to improve experiences for people with disabilities. “I'm excited that AI is lowering the barrier for companies to produce more usable products for people with disabilities, but we still need to acknowledge the limits. Product teams, developers and QA teams need to understand that human insight — and in particular, input from the disability community — is still the foundation for creating apps that are truly usable for everyone.”

As development teams rely on AI code assist to remediate accessibility issues and develop inclusive new features, those AI development tools themselves must model accessibility and inclusivity. Applause worked with one leading technology company to evaluate its low-code AI development platform, providing targeted feedback from developers with disabilities on the platform’s usability and accessibility. Testers conducted evaluations using various tools such as JAWS and NVDA screen readers, magnification software, and head-pointer devices. The testers identified a wide array of high-impact issues, including page layout friction, tabbing order problems, filter control defects, and extraneous text read by screen readers. Our client’s teams interacted directly with Applause project leads to fully understand insights and prioritize next steps. Ongoing collaboration provided continuous education for the tech company, effectively building inclusivity and empathy into the product development lifecycle.

Despite developer and QA confidence in AI tools, people using assistive technology still often come up against critical blockers. Applause’s 2026 accessibility survey included insights from more than 1,000 people who use assistive technology to interact with apps and websites.

Patrick Cullen, Associate Director of Accessibility at Applause, outlined some of the challenges in testing how well apps work for assistive technology users. “Testing with assistive technology is quite difficult because of the sheer range of it. That's compounded by the fact that some of it is very technical and it's quite difficult to understand how it works and why, especially if you don't use it day to day. It would be great to learn every assistive technology, but that's not realistic.” Instead, Applause teaches teams how to effectively pare down to understand what tools they actually need to use and test. “We'll consult with users about where the gaps may be,” he said. Ultimately, developing a consistent methodology for ongoing accessibility testing and addressing issues allows teams to improve accessibility and inclusivity over time.

To better understand how digital accessibility impacts consumer loyalty, Applause asked the same group which types of assistive technologies they use to interact with apps and websites:

About two-thirds of respondents, 66%, reported that assistive technology is important or essential to their digital interactions. The remaining third stated that while they do not need assistive technology all the time, they see it as a nice-to-have that makes it easier for them to use websites and apps.

The majority of people with disabilities are loyal to the apps and websites that offer them easy, intuitive digital experiences. Focusing on digital accessibility can create value for organizations in a variety of ways.

The 16% Opportunity: How Accessible Products Earn Loyal Customers

Explore some of the business benefits of prioritizing inclusive experiences.

Report Methodology

In April 2026, Applause conducted a survey of members of the uTest community as well as other software development, QA, product and accessibility professionals, with the following goals:

• Understand how organizations are using AI in accessibility efforts
• Learn how digital accessibility impacts brand loyalty for PWD

We also conducted interviews with technology and accessibility leaders.