The Web Almanac 2025 looked at 17.2 million websites. That's 244 TB of data that analysts sorted through using database queries to find patterns and organise information.
One thing I found interesting was accessibility across different countries.
Some types of websites are more accessible than others. Government sites, education sites and US-based sites tend to be the most accessible. This makes sense when you look at how strong accessibility laws are in different parts of the world.
Europe has laws like the European Accessibility Act (EAA) that are starting to change how public websites work. But the 2025 data shows no big sudden improvement. It's probably going to take a while for individual countries to actually enforce these rules.
When you look at specific governments, accessibility scores vary a lot. The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Finland and the UK are doing great, all scoring above 94%. They likely got there through strong design systems and good oversight.
The new EU rules are changing what people expect from websites. But again, there's no sudden jump in compliance.
The countries seeing the most improvement have a few things in common: national monitoring systems, legal requirements and public reporting. Legal requirements seem to work.
Another 2025 large-scale study of 100.000 mobile websites in 10 Global South countries found that "websites from countries with strict accessibility regulations and enforcement tend to follow WCAG guidelines better."
In the EU, monitoring reports for 2022–2024 show systematic checks and enforcement at the national level. But they also show continued problems with compliance.
It seems that while the Directive pushes accessibility up, it hasn't created universal conformance. I think the new EAA will see the same effect. These laws create an obligation for accessible products and services, yes. But in the EU, actually making it happen and enforcing it are more challenging.
In the US, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires accessibility for federal agencies and their contractors, with clear technical standards aligned to WCAG. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been interpreted by courts to apply to websites and apps. This led to thousands of lawsuits and settlements that effectively force many organisations to adopt WCAG.
So there seems to be a pattern. Where there are clear, enforced digital accessibility laws, average accessibility scores tend to be better. And this is especially true for government and regulated sectors.
But correlation does not mean causation. Reviews of university and hospital websites worldwide show widespread WCAG failures even in countries with strong laws. Similar studies in the EU show the same thing. Just having laws doesn't guarantee compliance.
This is a complicated picture.
Strong accessibility laws do push scores up, especially for government and regulated sites. But laws alone aren't enough. The countries doing best combine legal requirements with active monitoring, public reporting and enforcement mechanisms.
And even then, compliance isn't universal.
Laws create pressure and set expectations, but real accessibility needs consistent enforcement, dedicated resources and a genuine commitment on the ground level. Without all three, even the strongest regulations will only get us halfway there.