Case Study: 25 East Washington Accessibility Overhaul

When the team behind 25 East Washington partnered with Bryt Designs, their website had accessibility gaps that needed attention. The site at 25eastwashington.com averaged a 5.2 out of 10 across accessibility audits of its key pages. After a focused round of audits, testing and site improvements, that average climbed to 9.8 out of 10, backed by WCAG 2.2 compliance reporting the team can rely on going forward.

Here’s how we got there, and why accessibility deserves a spot on every Chicago business’s priority list.

What is website accessibility?

Website accessibility means building a site that everyone can use, including people with visual, hearing, motor or cognitive disabilities. That includes visitors who rely on screen readers, navigate by keyboard instead of a mouse, use magnification, or need clear contrast to read text.

The standard most businesses measure against is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C. The current version, WCAG 2.2, organizes its requirements around four principles: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. In practice, that covers things like:

• Descriptive alt text on photography of spaces, amenities and architecture
• Sufficient color contrast between text and backgrounds, including text placed over images
• Full keyboard navigation, with visible focus indicators
• Properly labeled forms, buttons and links, including icon-only links like logos and menu toggles
• A logical heading structure screen readers can follow
• Focused elements that aren’t hidden behind sticky headers or pop-ups, one of the newer WCAG 2.2 criteria

Accessibility isn’t just a legal checkbox. An accessible website is easier for every visitor to use, whether they’re a prospective tenant touring suites online, a broker checking availability or a guest looking up directions.

Why Illinois businesses are facing a surge of accessibility lawsuits

Website accessibility lawsuits have roughly doubled since 2020, and Illinois has quickly become one of the most active states. According to AudioEye’s 2026 litigation analysis, Illinois now accounts for about 17% of all U.S. website accessibility lawsuits, ranking third nationally behind New York and Florida, ahead of California, and it is the fastest-rising state by filing volume.

The main driver is the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA), which prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation. The federal ADA doesn’t award money damages to private plaintiffs, but under the IHRA a business can be ordered to pay actual damages, provide equal access and cover the complainant’s attorney’s fees and costs. That fee-shifting makes even smaller claims worthwhile to bring, which is a big part of why filings have climbed so quickly.

Nationally, nearly 8 in 10 website accessibility cases are now filed in state courts rather than federal court, and many disputes begin with a demand letter citing specific barriers like unlabeled buttons, missing alt text or keyboard traps. (Illinois also has the Illinois Information Technology Accessibility Act, but it applies to state agencies and public universities, not private businesses.)

The takeaway for Chicago businesses, from retailers to commercial property owners: accessibility issues are easier and far less expensive to fix proactively than to address under pressure. And because barriers tend to reappear as pages, plugins and content change, accessibility works best as ongoing maintenance, not a one-time project.

This section is general information, not legal advice. Consult an attorney about your specific situation.

The client: 25 East Washington

25 East Washington is a landmark office building in the heart of Chicago’s Loop. Built in 1914 and rooted in Daniel Burnham’s original vision, the building was once home to the Marshall Field’s Annex Store. Today it pairs its restored marble lobby and historic character with modern office suites, a 17,000-square-foot Atrium Club amenity floor, a fitness center and conference facilities, just steps from Millennium Park. Their website at 25eastwashington.com is often a prospective tenant’s first look at the building.

The challenge

The 25 East Washington team needed their website to meet the same standard of quality as the building itself. Audits of the site’s key pages averaged just 5.2 out of 10, revealing accessibility gaps that could keep some visitors from exploring suites, amenities and availability, and that could expose the business to risk in an increasingly active Illinois legal landscape.

Image-rich, design-forward sites like this one are especially prone to accessibility issues: photo sliders, text layered over imagery, icon-only navigation and off-canvas menus all look great but can create real barriers if they aren’t built with accessibility in mind.

Our process

We approached the project in five clear stages, keeping the client involved at every step.

1. Audit review and discovery. We ran accessibility audits across the site’s key pages and walked through the results with the 25 East Washington team, translating each error and alert into plain language. That gave everyone a shared picture of where the site stood and which issues posed the greatest barriers to visitors.
2. Guidance and scoping. We provided recommendations and a defined scope separating code-level fixes from content updates their team could own. Clear scope meant clear expectations before any work began.
3. Technical improvements to the website. Once the scope was approved, we worked through the site’s templates and components, addressing the kinds of structural issues that automated scans flag and real users feel, such as missing labels, contrast problems, heading structure, link and button naming, and keyboard and focus behavior.
4. Testing. We re-ran audits and tested changes across key pages, from the homepage to amenities, availability, location and contact pages, to confirm fixes held up and nothing new broke along the way.
5. WCAG 2.2 compliance reporting and handoff. We delivered WCAG 2.2 compliance reports documenting the improvements, along with guidance on what the team could continue improving, such as image alt text and content practices, so accessibility stays strong as the site evolves.

The results

The 25 East Washington website went from an average accessibility score of 5.2/10 to 9.8/10, nearly doubling its rating and bringing the site close to a perfect score.

Measure	Before	After
Average accessibility score	5.2 / 10	9.8 / 10
WCAG 2.2 documentation	None	Compliance reports delivered
Team guidance	Open questions	Clear plan for ongoing improvements

Just as important, the 25 East Washington team now understands where their site stands, what was fixed, and how to keep it accessible as they update availability, add photography and publish new content.

Takeaways for Chicago businesses

• Start with an audit. Accessibility tools reveal where your site stands, but the real value comes from interpreting results and prioritizing fixes.
• Fix the source, not just the symptoms. Many accessibility issues live in templates and shared components like headers, menus and sliders, so they repeat on every page until they’re fixed at the source.
• Overlay widgets aren’t a substitute. Lasting accessibility comes from improving the code and content your visitors actually interact with.
• Treat accessibility as ongoing. New pages, plugins and content can introduce new barriers, so periodic checks keep your site in good shape.

Is your website accessible?

If your website needs accessibility help, whether you’ve received a demand letter or you’re planning ahead, Bryt Designs can help. We’ll audit your site, review the results with you, scope the work clearly, fix the issues and provide the WCAG 2.2 documentation you need.

Contact Bryt Designs to schedule an accessibility review.

Sources

• AudioEye: Accessibility Lawsuits by State (2026)
• 25 East Washington