Many companies that provide goods and services to the EU’s 450 million consumers must comply with new accessibility standards that came into force in June. Like GDPR before it, this new law has left businesses scrambling to adjust their websites, e-commerce platforms, and banking apps. But despite similar standards existing in the United States, many still have a long way to go.
“One thing that surprised us was companies, even the big ones, came to us two weeks before (the deadline) and said, ‘Oh, we didn’t know anything about that,'” said Irish entrepreneur Cormac Chisholm.
His startup, DevAlly, is among the first to leverage technology to make it easier for businesses to spot accessibility issues. It also helps them comply with regulations such as the European Accessibility Act (EAA), which promises hefty fines for non-compliant new products and services. (Existing systems have a grace period to comply until 2030.)
Launched in 2024, DevAlly audits accessibility barriers such as, for example, videos lacking subtitles on corporate websites. It also tracks customer-reported issues, helps businesses create patch roadmaps, and generate accessibility reports.
Although human consultants can also conduct audits, Chisholm, CEO of DevAlly, believes such an approach cannot meet demand or adapt to the realities of shipping digital products and features. DevAlly also has accessibility experts, but it leverages AI and accessibility LLMs to automate testing and issue tracking. According to Chisholm, this helps integrate accessibility into the product development lifecycle.
This technology-driven approach mirrors the path taken by cybersecurity compliance company Vanta, now valued at $2.45 billion.
Regulatory tailwinds and growing accessibility awareness helped DevAlly secure €2 million in pre-seed funding (around $2.3 million), TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
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With this new capital, the team plans to grow its team from 5 to 15 people by the end of the year, mainly in Dublin, where it participated in the NDRC accelerator program operated by Dogpatch Labs on behalf of the public body Enterprise Ireland.
NDRC and Enterprise Ireland participated in the round, but it was led by Belgian fund Miles Ahead Capital, with participation from European angel investors. According to the founders of DevAlly, this is partly due to the Slush technology conference, where they placed in the top 3 of the startup competition and made contact with their future lead investor.
“Traditionally in Ireland the approach is to go for Irish venture capital, but we’ve gone for Europe, and one of the things we’re most excited about is exploring what that unlocks with that investor,” Chisholm said.
DevAlly will use Miles Ahead’s support to launch its U.S. operations, starting with sales in San Francisco. The city proved valuable for connecting with accessibility managers at large B2B software companies after DevAlly participated in TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield 2024. “A lot of our customers are on the West Coast right now,” co-founder and chief revenue officer Patrick Guiney told TechCrunch.
The startup has enjoyed success in Europe thanks to the entry into force of the EAA. The same goes for other players, such as Barcelona-based QualiBooth, which recently examined the state of e-commerce accessibility in Europe – with retail being one of the EAA’s focuses. But both startups also see opportunities in the United States, where DevAlly is betting on shopping as a major driver of demand.
With estimates that disabled consumers and their households account for $8 trillion in disposable income annually, Chisholm is adamant that “good design is accessible design.” One in five people live with a disability, and disability can also be situational — because strong glare makes it impossible to read your screen in bright sunlight, or you’re holding a baby and can’t access control buttons, he said. “So you want to try to make the design as universal as possible.”
Actions a company can take to meet this range range from supporting screen readers to higher contrast and gradients that work for color blind people. But a recent analysis conducted by UX/UI design agency Tenscope found that 94% of the top 1,000 U.S. websites fail to meet basic accessibility standards.
The travel industry was the worst performer, leaving many users unable to perform basic functions such as contact forms, account creation and online shopping. Even before the EAA, Spanish airline Vueling was fined for not making its website accessible.
With the EU-wide EAA now involving multiple jurisdictions, each with their own fines, large tech companies operating in multiple countries could find themselves looking for help. “That’s why we’re positioning ourselves as a bridge to Europe for these American companies,” Chisholm said.
If they do, it will be good news for DevAlly and its investors; but maybe for all of us, Chisholm said. “Accessibility improvements, like subtitles at Netflix, are huge advancements in how we all use technology. It’s a much better form of design.”
