Updated September 9, 2025 by Kris Rivenburgh
ADA Website Compliance is the process of making your website ADA compliant by fixing technical accessibility issues so that serial plaintiffs’ lawyers do not sue you over website accessibility. Best practices are making your website WCAG 2.1 AA (or 2.2 AA) conformant and publishing an accessibility statement.
| Issue | Description | Common Problems | How to Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Alt Text | Text descriptions for images | Missing descriptions, Generic descriptions like “image” or “photo”, Descriptions on decorative images, Complex images without proper descriptions | Add descriptive text that explains image purpose, Use empty descriptions for decorative images, Provide detailed descriptions for complex graphics, Include context not just visual description |
| 2. Headings | Proper page structure using headings | Skipping heading levels, Multiple main headings, Using headings only for styling, No heading structure at all | Use single main heading per page, Follow sequential order, Structure content logically, Use styling for appearance not heading tags |
| 3. Keyboard Navigation | Full website functionality using only keyboard | Cannot reach all interactive elements, Keyboard traps where users get stuck | Make all interactive elements accessible by keyboard, Ensure users can navigate through and exit all areas |
| 4. Interactive Elements | Clear labeling for buttons and controls | Buttons without accessible names, Missing labels, Unclear element purpose | Add clear names to buttons, Use descriptive labels, Make button purpose obvious to screen readers |
| 5. Form Fields | Proper labeling for input fields | Missing labels, Labels not connected to inputs, Unclear required fields | Connect labels to inputs properly, Use clear descriptive labels, Mark required fields clearly |
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (which applies to most private businesses) doesn’t address modern digital accessibility (websites, mobile apps, software, etc.). Nevertheless, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and many U.S. courts still interpret the ADA to apply to websites, etc. As a result, a cottage industry of plaintiffs’ law firms have engaged in filing complaints against website owners en masse in state and federal court as well as sending demand letters.
To avoid a lawsuit, the best path forward is to make your website conformant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) technical standards. WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard we recommend for clients (though WCAG 2.2 AA is also a good choice).
What’s problematic is meeting these standards can take a long time — weeks, usually 2+ months — because you need an audit to find the issues and then remediation to fix the issues. What’s also difficult for small businesses is the cost can exceed their budget.
In that case, we recommend our ADA Compliance Course which provides our detailed instructions (for your web developer, content manager) on the exact accessibility issues to prioritize first to reduce risk as you improve accessibility. The table above lists 5 issues that should be urgent, high priority fixes. The ADA Compliance Course tells you how to fix those and then 10 more that we see claimed frequently.
Whatever course of action you take, we recommend being proactive and aggressive with accessibility.
That’s the surface of what’s going on here. If you’d like to dive deep into the ocean and get to the bottom of all of these lawsuits, continue reading.
Quick Takeaways
- Website accessibility means you make your website accessible to people with disabilities
- There are technical standards (WCAG) that tell you how to do this
- Best practices to make your website ADA compliant (still, in 2025) are:
- WCAG 2.1 AA conformance
- Publishing an accessibility statement
- The only sure path to conformance is an audit (not a scan) followed by remediation
- Once you’ve made your website accessible, make sure not to introduce new accessibility issues
Introduction
By the time you finish reading this guide, you will know more than 99.99% of people – including many people who work at digital accessibility companies – when it comes to ADA compliance in the digital world.
This plain English guide, updated as of August 2025, succinctly outlines the law, the technical standards, the legal landscape, and best practices for making your website ADA compliant. At the conclusion of this guide, you will find a list of resources to assist you in making ADA compliance as simple and as easy as possible.
While ‘ADA website compliance’ is a colloquial or informal term, it actually encompasses an entire billion dollar industry with far-reaching impact.
The ADA Website Lawsuit Story
This very simple story happens thousands of times every year.
David is a small business owner with a Shopify ecommerce website. David sells an assortment of products on his Shopify store and makes $150,000 gross revenue every year. After taxes and expenses, he makes enough to live okay on, but he’s not rich by any means.
One day David starts receiving emails from web design agencies, digital accessibility companies, and defense law firms saying that he’s been sued because his website isn’t ADA compliant, but they can help him with website accessibility and defending his case.
David’s initial thought is this is a scam. He’s never even heard of ADA compliance for websites and this is the first he’s finding out about a lawsuit. He hasn’t been served. He hasn’t received a letter. No phone calls. Nothing.
After researching online, David starts to realize that he might have actually been sued and his heart starts to sink. In fact, after consulting with a defense attorney, he finds out he is the defendant in a class action lawsuit in New York federal court.
David is completely frustrated, but decides he better start researching companies to help him make his website ADA compliant. He clicks on an ad for an ADA compliance widget that says it’s the solution for ADA compliance and WCAG 2.1 AA. It says it’s only $50 per month and it will use AI to make his website accessible.
But something feels off — is this too good to be true?
Why are there other accessibility companies saying widgets are bad and selling services for thousands of dollars?
David searches Reddit posts and people are giving all sorts of different advice.
This is all very confusing and David just wants to be done with it.
What’s going on? What’s the real story? And what should David do?
We thoroughly answer to these questions and more in our guide below.
Table of Contents
What is ADA Compliance?
ADA compliance means that you are compliant with the requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Americans with Disabilities Act is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. There are multiple titles under the ADA that set out different requirements for different entities and/or settings.
- Title I: Employment
- Title II: State and Local Government
- Title III: Public Accommodations
- Title IV: Telecommunications
- Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions
We will explain titles 1-3 in depth below.
What is ADA Website Compliance?
ADA website compliance means that your website provides meaningful access, the current legal standard for compliance under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The best practice to ensure meaningful access is to make your website WCAG 2.1 AA conformant.
When the compliance deadline for the new web accessibility rule under Title II comes into effect, WCAG 2.1 AA will formally be the technical standard for ADA compliance.
As the legal landscape currently stands, the best approach to avoiding a lawsuit is to remediate or fix the technical accessibility issues that plaintiffs’ lawyers most commonly look for. Our ADA Compliance Course explains exactly what to do to reduce risk.
Is ADA Website Compliance Mandatory?
Yes, the DOJ has taken the position that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA’s) requirements apply to the offerings of public and private entities, including those on the web. Many U.S. state and federal courts have followed this interpretation.
Practically, if your website has accessibility issues, it’s very possible that a plaintiff’s law firm sues you; it’s overwhelmingly plaintiffs’ law firms who are enforcing ADA website compliance through lawsuits.
The Law: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
On April 8, 2024, the Department of Justice (DOJ) published a historic press release announcing new digital accessibility regulation under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The DOJ provided an advance copy of the Final Rule which set WCAG 2.1 AA as the legal standard for websites, mobile apps, and other web content including social media and documents.
However, Title II applies to state and local governments and associated public entities (public schools, public transportation, emergency services like police and fire departments, public hospitals and health care services, courts, various offices, and other public programs and services). Title II does not apply to private entities.
Title III prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and requires places of public accommodation (which includes most private entities such as small businesses, companies, non-profits, etc.) to provide access.
And yet, while we have a newly published update to Title II, there is still no regulation that explicitly states how private entities are to make their websites, mobile apps, and other web content accessible.
Nevertheless, the DOJ’s stance has been that the ADA does apply to the digital world and plaintiffs’ lawyers have continually sued website owners over accessibility for several years.
While Title II regulation certainly helps us preview what to expect in upcoming Title III regulation – and may even impact court decisions in the current legal landscape – we must still look to the outdated, general Title III text to determine what the law is for private entities.
As a general rule, Sec. 12182 (a) states, Prohibition of discrimination by public accommodations under Title III of the ADA:
No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.
ADA.gov
Section. 12182 (b)(2)(A)(iii) also states:
a failure to take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated or otherwise treated differently than other individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless the entity can demonstrate that taking such steps would fundamentally alter the nature of the good, service, facility, privilege, advantage, or accommodation being offered or would result in an undue burden;
ADA.gov
This subsection leads to the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) effective communication requirement under 28 CFR § 36.303(c)(1):
A public accommodation shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities. This includes an obligation to provide effective communication to companions who are individuals with disabilities.
eCFR.gov
So, generally, these legally excerpts require that:
- places of public accommodation do not discriminate against people of disabilities
- places of public accommodation furnish auxiliary aids and services to ensure effective communication
So, in theory, a website could either be considered the place of public accommodation itself, or it could be viewed as an auxiliary aid necessary for ensuring effective communication.
If a court were to interpret the ADA to apply to a website in either circumstance, the website owner or operator could potentially be found in violation of the ADA.
Although neither this excerpt nor any other part of the ADA explicitly mandates the accessibility of modern digital technology, nor specifies guidelines for making such technology compliant, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has adopted the stance that the ADA does indeed apply to websites.
ADA Title II New Web Accessibility Rule
In 2024, the Department of Justice published the new ADA Title II web rule, updating regulation and requiring WCAG 2.1 AA conformance for web content within 2 or 3 years.
Although Title II of the ADA applies to state and local governments and thus isn’t directly applicable to private entities (unless you are contracting with a public entity to provide services, etc.), the new web accessibility rule does have a fair degree of relevance given that there is still no updated regulation for Title III.
Different Titles in the Americans with Disabilities Act
| Title | Scope | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Title I | Employment | Employers with 15+ employees, state/local governments |
| Title II (A) | State and Local Government | Public education, transportation, healthcare |
| Title II (B) | Public Transit Systems | Bus services, rail systems |
| Title III | Public Accommodations | Restaurants, hotels, retail stores |
| Title IV | Telecommunications | Telephone services for hearing/speech disabilities |
| Title V | Miscellaneous Provisions | Prohibits retaliation, legal guidance |
For many years, people thought they were exempted from ADA compliance because a snippet of Title I showed up first in the search results and Title