ADA Website Compliance Guide: Accessibility and the Law

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.

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.

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:

1. places of public accommodation do not discriminate against people of disabilities
2. 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

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 I only requires compliance if your organization has 15 or more employees. But this is why it’s so important to know about each of the titles under the ADA. Let’s summarize each title straight from the source, ADA.gov’s Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act page.

Title I

Applies to: employers that have 15 or more employees, including state/local governments, employment agencies, and labor unions.

General requirement: Employers must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from the employment-related opportunities available to others. This includes things like recruitment, hiring, promotions, training, pay, and social activities.

The ADA includes specific requirements for employers to ensure that people with disabilities have equal access to employment. Learn more about these requirements on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance for employers.

Title II (Subtitle A)

Applies to: all services, programs, and activities of state and local governments.

Examples of state and local government activities include:

• Public education
• Transportation
• Recreation
• Health care
• Social services
• Courts
• Voting
• Emergency services
• Town meetings

The ADA applies to state and local governments even if:

• the state or local government is small or
• they receive money from the federal government.

General requirement: State and local governments must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from all of their programs, services, and activities.

The ADA contains specific requirements for state and local governments to ensure equal access for people with disabilities. Learn about these requirements in the State and Local Government Primer.

Title II (Subtitle B)

Applies to: public transit systems.

General requirement: Public transit systems must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to benefit from their services.

Note: Private transit systems are also covered by the ADA. For more information, see the section Businesses that are open to the public below.

Title III

Applies to:

• Businesses and nonprofits serving the public. Examples of businesses and nonprofits include:
  • Restaurants
  • Hotels
  • Retail stores
  • Movie theaters
  • Private schools (including housing)
  • Doctors’ offices and hospitals
  • Day care centers
  • Gyms
  • Organizations offering courses or examinations
• Privately operated transit. Examples of privately operated transit include:
  • Taxis
  • Intercity and charter buses
  • Hotel shuttles
  • Airport shuttles
• Commercial facilities need only comply with requirements of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design. Examples of commercial facilities include:
  • Office buildings
  • Warehouses
  • Factories

General requirement: Businesses must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to access the goods or services that they offer.

The ADA contains specific requirements for businesses that are open to the public. Learn more about these requirements: ADA Primer for Small Businesses.

Note: We’ve omitted Title IV and V because they’re largely inapplicable.

Who is Required to Make Their Website ADA Compliant?

Most website owners are practically required to make their website ADA compliant because otherwise plaintiffs’ lawyers may target them in litigation. However, technically, under Title III of the ADA, there are no specific requirements for website owners.

Because most website owners concerned with ADA website compliance are primarily concerned with Title III of the ADA, let’s go into the specifics of the law.

As the language clearly indicates, Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to places of public accommodation. But what is a place of public accommodation?

Section 12181. Definitions provides 12 categories with several of places of public accommodation.

(7) Public accommodation

The following private entities are considered public accommodations for purposes of this subchapter, if the operations of such entities affect commerce

(A) an inn, hotel, motel, or other place of lodging, except for an establishment located within a building that contains not more than five rooms for rent or hire and that is actually occupied by the proprietor of such establishment as the residence of such proprietor;

(B) a restaurant, bar, or other establishment serving food or drink;

(C) a motion picture house, theater, concert hall, stadium, or other place of exhibition entertainment;

(D) an auditorium, convention center, lecture hall, or other place of public gathering;

(E) a bakery, grocery store, clothing store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment;

(F) a laundromat, dry-cleaner, bank, barber shop, beauty shop, travel service, shoe repair service, funeral parlor, gas station, office of an accountant or lawyer, pharmacy, insurance office, professional office of a health care provider, hospital, or other service establishment;

(G) a terminal, depot, or other station used for specified public transportation;

(H) a museum, library, gallery, or other place of public display or collection;

(I) a park, zoo, amusement park, or other place of recreation;

(J) a nursery, elementary, secondary, undergraduate, or postgraduate private school, or other place of education;

(K) a day care center, senior citizen center, homeless shelter, food bank, adoption agency, or other social service center establishment; and

(L) a gymnasium, health spa, bowling alley, golf course, or other place of exercise or recreation.

ADA.gov

Who is Exempt From Making Their Website ADA Compliant?

The two named entity exemptions under Title III are religious organizations such as churches and private clubs.

Specific requirements must be met. Charging membership/annual fees does not automatically mean the business is exempt.

One common misconception is that small businesses with less than 15 employees are exempt from ADA compliance. This originates from the 15 employees or more threshold from Title I of the ADA but does not apply to Title III.

Further, Non-profits are also not exempt from the ADA.

For more information on who the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to, read the Businesses That Are Open to the Public page on ADA.gov.

DOJ Stance

The DOJ is the regulatory and enforcement agency behind Title II and Title III of the ADA. Thus, the DOJ is the authoritative agency who is looked to for guidance.

The DOJ’s Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA sets out their stance on ADA website compliance and states:

Businesses and state and local governments have flexibility in how they comply with the ADA’s general requirements of nondiscrimination and effective communication. But they must comply with the ADA’s requirements.”

The Department of Justice does not have a regulation setting out detailed standards, but the Department’s longstanding interpretation of the general nondiscrimination and effective communication provisions applies to web accessibility.¹

Businesses and state and local governments can currently choose how they will ensure that the programs, services, and goods they provide online are accessible to people with disabilities.

ADA.gov

Here the DOJ is stating that businesses must comply with the ADA but they have flexibility in how they comply.

While flexibility in compliance sounds like a good thing, the problem is plaintiffs’ lawyers have taken advantage of this ambiguity because it means that they too, have flexibility in deciding whether a website is not ADA compliant.

DOJ Private Enforcement Actions

Although the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not explicitly stated how to make a website ADA compliant, they have initiated a number of private enforcement actions concerning digital accessibility that have resulted in settlements.

Entities that have settled with the DOJ include:

• QuikTrip (2010)
• H&R Block (2014)
• Peapod (2014)
• National Museum of Crime and Punishment (2015)
• edX (2015)
• Carnival Cruise (2015)
• McLennan County, Texas (2015)
• Miami University (2016)
• Rite Aid (2021)
• Hy-Vee (2021)
• Kroger (2022)
• Meijer (2022)

There were numerous mandates in every consent decree and settlement, but the ultimate theme was the DOJ stipulated the entity must make their digital asset WCAG conformant and post a conspicuous accessibility statement (notice) on their website.

In recent settlements, the DOJ required WCAG 2.1 AA conformance. As mentioned previously, version 2.1 was current until October of 2023, when WCAG 2.2 was officially released.

Because the DOJ is the regulatory and enforcement agency behind Title II and Title III, these settlement requirements along with the newly published Final Rule for Title II are the best guidance possible.

As such, the best practices for ADA website compliance are WCAG 2.1 AA conformance (or 2.2) and posting an accessibility statement (with contact information for support).

Legal Standard

The actual legal standard for ADA compliance is the meaningful access standard.

William Goren, one of the foremost authorities on the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, explains the meaningful access standard in a JDSupra article:

The term “meaningful access,” as a legal standard comes from Alexander v. Choate, 469 U.S. 287, 301-302 (1985) where the court said that persons with disabilities are entitled under §504 of the Rehabilitation Act, to meaningful access to a State’s programs, benefits, and activities. Since the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act get interpreted the same way, that standard has carried over to the ADA.

JDSupra.com

Of course, when we ask what constitutes a meaningfully accessible website, we arrive back at a general standard where the technicalities can be argued.

Because technical arguments are quite expensive to litigate in court, it is best to preempt ADA website compliance litigation altogether by following best practices set out in this guide.

WCAG

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are technical standards for web accessibility that provide direction on how to make a website (or other web asset) accessible to people with disabilities.

Although WCAG is not the law, it is frequently referenced as a basis for determining whether or not a website is accessible. Some laws, including Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), have incorporated WCAG 2.0 AA into the law.

Versions

There are four versions of WCAG (1.0, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2) and three conformance levels (A, AA, AAA). Because AAA is extremely strict, level AA conformance is the defacto conformance level referenced.

Version 2.0 is best viewed as the classic version. It was published in 2008 and
provides a strong baseline for accessibility.

Version 2.1 was published in 2018 and includes key mobile
considerations.

Version 2.2 was published in 2023 and is the current version.

Success Criteria

Each successive version adds success criteria, or accessibility requirements necessary for conformance, to the previous version.

Another way to think of success criteria is as things to do to make your website more accessible.

Some examples of success criteria include:

• 1.1.1 Non-text content
• 1.3.1 Info and Relationships
• 2.1.1 Keyboard
• 3.2.1 On Focus
• 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value

Although an extremely useful reference, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are also extremely technical and are difficult to understand – even for people with a web development background. Our WCAG checklist page includes a guide and a checklist for WCAG 2.1 AA and 2.2 AA.

WCAG in Practice

Remember, that there is no explicit web rule under Title III of the ADA (which applies to private entities. The only web rule is for Title II of the ADA. Thus, full WCAG conformance isn’t required for ADA compliance. However, WCAG conformance is a best practice to avoid being sued.

In the ongoing serial website accessibility litigation in the United States, Plaintiffs’ lawyers leverage technical instances of non-conformance to make claims that a website owner is violating the ADA.

This, while, there can be a strong legal defense against some of the complaints filed, it’s best to avoid litigation altogether and make your website as conformant as possible to reduce risk.

Disabilities Impacted

While lawsuits have taken the website accessibility headlines in the United States, it’s important to remember that when we follow the WCAG 2.1 AA technical standard and improve accessibility, it has a tremendous positive impact on access to our digital experiences for people with disabilities.

Here are the primary disabilities that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) take into account and how WCAG 2.1 AA conformance helps ensure access.

Visual Impairments

• Blindness: Individuals who are blind require screen readers, Braille devices, and keyboard navigation. Websites need text alternatives for visual content and full keyboard accessibility.
• Color Blindness: People with color blindness struggle distinguishing certain colors. Digital content shouldn’t rely solely on color to convey information—use text labels or patterns instead.
• Low Vision: Significant visual impairment not fully correctable with glasses. Users benefit from text magnification, high contrast modes, and simple layouts.

Hearing Impairments

• Deafness: Deaf individuals cannot hear audio content. Providing captions, transcripts for videos, and visual indicators for navigational sounds are essential.
• Hard of Hearing: May hear some sound but struggle with details, especially in poor audio quality. Benefit from captions and adjustable volume controls.

Motor Impairments

• Difficulty or Inability to Use a Mouse: Includes tremors, paralysis, and limb loss. Websites should be fully keyboard-navigable with alternatives to complex mouse movements.
• Slow Response Time: People with motor impairments may take longer to respond. Timed tasks should allow time extensions.
• Limited Fine Motor Control: Makes precise mouse control difficult. Interfaces should provide larger clickable areas and support imprecise gestures.

Cognitive Impairments

• Distractibility: Conditions like ADHD make focus difficult with busy layouts. Websites should offer distraction-free modes and controllable animations.
• Difficulty Remembering or Focusing on Large Amounts of Information: Simplifying navigation, providing consistent cues, and allowing progress saving help manage these challenges.

Learning Disabilities

• Dyslexia: Affects reading abilities and comprehension speed. Text should be clear and well-spaced. Audio alternatives and sans-serif fonts help.
• Other Learning Disabilities: Include difficulties with math, spatial relationships, or language processing. Interactive multimedia and multiple information formats help.

Legal Landscape

Most website owners find out about ADA compliance for websites through a demand letter or lawsuit or from a peer who has already been sued.

There are literally thousands of complaints concerning website accessibility filed in state and federal court every year. It’s estimated that tens of thousands of disputes are settled privately before ever becoming public record.

ADA Website Lawsuits

ADA website lawsuit filing numbers have leveled off in 2024, but litigation is still going strong and may be even more prevalent than the numbers suggest. Much of website accessibility litigation is resolved privately after a demand letter is sent so the true extent of litigation is unknown.

Plaintiffs Lawyers

There are approximately 40 active plaintiffs’ law firms in ADA website compliance litigation. Some of the most active law firms are:

• Mars Khaimov, PLLC
• Pacific Trial Attorneys, APC (Scott Ferrell)
• Stein Saks, LLC (Mark Rozenberg)
• Law Office Of Pelayo Duran, P.A.
• Manning Law, APC
• Gottlieb & Associates (Michael A. LaBollita)
• Shaked Law Group, P.C. (Dan Shaked)
• Cohen & Mizrahi LLP
• Wilshire Law Firm
• Acacia Barros, P.A.
• The Hill Law Firm (Michelle E. Hill, Esq.)
• Zemel Law (Daniel Zemel, Esq.)
• Mendez Law Offices (Diego German Mendez, Esq.)
• Mizrhai Kroub
• Law Office of Pelayo Duran
• Lipsky Lowe
• East End Trial Group
• Potter Handy
• Shalom Law
• Marcus & Zelman
• The Marks Law Firm
• Law Offices of Mitchell Segal
• Lawrence H. Fisher
• Leal Law Firm
• Blaise & Nitschke

These firms usually initiate litigation on behalf of a plaintiff who is blind or visually impaired. The general claims asserted typically revolve around existing accessibility issues on the website creating a barrier to access.

Following, these issues are tantamount to intentional discrimination on the part of the defendant website owner/operator. Thus, the law firm contends that the defendant is in violation of the law and their client is entitled to relief and/or damages.

Accessibility Issues Claimed

Plaintiffs law firms often apply the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines very strictly against websites, with technical non-conformance on a number of success criteria, opening the possibility of litigation.

The top three issues claimed in litigation involve:

1. Missing alt text
2. Missing form field labels
3. Keyboard navigability

Other commonly claimed issues include:

• Broken links
• Incorrect heading hierarchy
• Missing skip link (even though not technically required under WCAG)

Many plaintiffs lawyers use automated accessibility scans to find issues. Popular scans used by lawyers include:

• WAVE (free)
• Google Lighthouse (free)
• PowerMapper (paid)

However, a growing trend is for plaintiffs lawyers to contract with accessibility experts to test websites and find issues beyond what automation can detect.

Venues

The bulk of ADA website compliance lawsuits take place in:

1. New York
2. California
3. Florida

Both in state and federal court. New York federal courts are in the 2nd circuit, California federal courts are in the 3rd circuit, and Florida federal courts are in the 11th circuit.

We’ve also seen a rise in complaints filed in other states including:

• New Jersey
• Pennsylvania
• Illinois
• Missouri

Other Anti-Discrimination Laws

The Americans with Disabilities Act isn’t the only law that plaintiffs lawyers name as a cause of action for website accessibility complaints. Other general anti-discrimination laws may come into play.

In California, the Unruh Act is commonly named. In New York, the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) and New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) are also frequently cited.

Settlement Amounts

The vast majority of cases are settled privately and the actual settlement amounts for ADA website lawsuits vary based on a number of factors including:

• Plaintiffs law firm
• Location
• Defendant revenue
• Defense attorney
• Strength of case

Cases in New York typically have the highest settlement amounts. In general, ADA website litigation usually settles for between $5,000 and $20,000.

How Do I Know if My Website is ADA Compliant?

A website that is conformant with WCAG 2.1 AA technical standards and has an accessibility statement is considered ADA compliant. The legal standard under Title III of the ADA is meaningful access, but it is unclear when meaningful access has been provided so WCAG 2.1 AA conformance is best practice.

What are Examples of ADA Compliant Websites?

• Accessible.org
• WebAIM.org
• ADA.gov
• W3.org

Many people want examples of what an ADA compliant looks like, but an accessible website doesn’t have to look different than it currently does. The are only slight appearance changes that may need to take place (e.g., updating color contrast); an accessible website doesn’t have to look any certain way.

For example, the following list of popular websites can all be made WCAG 2.1 AA conformant:

• Amazon.com
• Costco.com
• NYTimes.com
• Reddit.com
• ChatGPT.com
• Facebook.com
• YouTube.com

How to Make Your Website ADA Compliant

Let’s breakdown how to make your website ADA compliant by starting with the two pillars:

1. Make your website WCAG 2.1 AA conformant
2. Publish a conspicuous accessibility statement.

Note that making your website fully WCAG conformant can take several months.

And when most website owners seek to make their website ADA compliant, their primary concern is practical, not technical compliance: how do I avoid getting sued over website accessibility?

The best path forward is to strategically prioritize and fix the 15 accessibility issues plaintiffs lawyers claim the most and then continue with WCAG conformance.

Let’s now cover how to make a website fully WCAG conformant.

ADA Website Audit

An ADA website compliance audit, or more technically a website accessibility audit, is a formal, manual evaluation of a website’s accessibility conducted by a technical accessibility expert. Essentially, during an audit, a website is being graded against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and any accessibility issues are documented and included in the audit report.

While scans and other tools are commonly used during the audit process, the audit results must always be the result of manual review. Our ADA Website Compliance audit guide will help you learn more about purchasing an audit and how everything looks when it goes perfectly.

During an audit, one or more technical experts will inspect elements, content, and code. Experts will also interact with and test the website using a keyboard and at least one screen reader.

Also, although an audit, optimally, tells the website owner all accessibility issues that reside on the website, no issues are fixed as the result of an audit.

Accessible.org audits usually cost between $1,500 and $5,500 for most websites.

The price will depend on several factors including:

• number of pages within scope
• state of accessibility
• complexity of the website
• environment combinations

Environment combinations may include:

• browser
• operating system
• device
• assistive technology

Remediation

Remediation is the process of fixing accessibility issues on a website.

Non-technical issues involving images, video, audio, and text can typically be fixed by someone familiar with accessibility measures. For example, adding closed captions and audio descriptions to video.

Code issues are technically complex and require development experience. For example, most web designers won’t know when and how to add appropriate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes.

Once completed, a website should be WCAG conformant for the audit scope.

Validation

It’s best to audit post-remediation to ensure all issues are resolved. This re-audit phase is crucial. Accessible.org audit services always include validation because ADA website compliance requires attention to detail and we want to catch all issues.

User Testing

User testing involves accessibility professionals with disabilities testing a website, typically using assistive technology like screen readers or voice dictation software.

Unlike audits, user testing focuses on practical experience vs. technical WCAG non-conformance.

Testing results in documentation—written reports and/or session recordings—providing excellent evidence of ADA compliance and representing best practice.

ADA Compliance for Small Businesses

Serial website accessibility litigation has been extremely difficult for small businesses (including Shopify store owners, restaurant owners, and boutique shops). Some proprietors have taken their website offline or have filed for bankruptcy.

Many small businesses are completely unaware that they could even be sued because someone claims their website is discriminating against them. Then, when they research how to make their website ADA compliant, they are led to believe that widgets can make their website ADA compliant when they can’t — what most don’t realize is that widgets can actually increase the likelyhood of being sued.

Even if entrepreneurs manage to get past the deceptive marketing of “solutions,” there is still the hurdle of actually paying for legitimate services which can easily exceed $2,500+ when working towards full WCAG conformance.

Small business owners are the brave ones who take risks of creating value in the economy. Starting a business is already time-consuming and expensive enough, but when you throw in plaintiffs’ lawyers looking for reasons to sue and accessibility vendors looking to take advantage of the situation by selling worthless widgets, it makes owning a small business that much more difficult.

ADA Website “Solutions”

Many accessibility vendors mislead consumers into unnecessary “solutions” that provide little value and don’t prevent lawsuits.

Overlay Widgets

Widgets (also called plugins or toolbars) are marketed as accessibility “solutions,” but widget makers make false claims about preventing lawsuits. Hundreds of accessibility professionals have spoken against them.

While widgets can render superficial adjustments like zoom and color contrast when activated, these changes literally lay over the website without fundamentally making it accessible. This means manual remediation is necessary.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers routinely sue websites with widgets installed. Some specifically target widget users.

Premium Scans

While automated scans provide instant results, virtually all value is available free through:

• WAVE (beginner-friendly, intuitive, educational)
• AXE (developer-aimed, technically advanced)
• Google Lighthouse

AXE can reliably detect as many issues as any paid scan.

Companies promote premium scans featuring unlimited pages, customizable reports, and monitoring. In practice, the benefit is nominal:

• Remediation happens one page at a time (free scans take seconds)
• Reports miss most accessibility considerations
• Monitoring is ironic—if you’re reacting to issues immediately, you’d have processes preventing them

Companies inflate scan capabilities. Scans reliably flag only ~25% of WCAG 2.1 AA issues. Most never reveal how problematic false negatives are.

Many mistakenly call scans “ADA compliance checkers” though they can’t reliably flag most accessibility issues.

Custom Overlays

Custom overlays use targeted JavaScript fixes for individual websites. Unlike widgets, they lack adjustment menus but still require user activation.

While superior to widgets, custom overlays remain inadequate. They don’t address underlying issues and depend on users knowing they exist and plaintiffs’ lawyers dismiss them as readily as widgets.

Custom overlays break during code updates, forcing developers to handle changes cautiously. Minor modifications can disrupt functionality, demanding constant maintenance.

At best, they create an illusion of progress and might serve as temporary stopgaps. Given their limitations, drawbacks, and high costs, custom overlays are poor investments.

Checklist: Make Your Website ADA Compliant

Our practical 10-step ADA website compliance checklist is in chronological order of exactly what steps we recommend you take first. The checklist is written specifically to help you reduce your risk of a lawsuit as you progress. It’s important to note that, while WCAG conformance is a best practice for preventing a lawsuit, the path you take to get there very much affects the risk exposure you carry while you work on accessibility.

This is why you should start with our recommended steps in order.

Resources

WCAG Course

Our WCAG Course will teach you the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in 3 hours.

ADA Compliance Course

Why not reduce your risk of a lawsuit as you fix accessibility issues?

Our ADA Compliance Course tells you exactly what to do, including detailed instructions on how to find and fix each issue.

Accessibility Services

Accessible.org offers audit and user testing services (all 100% manual accessibility services) necessary to follow best practices for ADA compliance.

Contact us to find out how we can help you with your website.

Accessibility Platform

Our Accessibility Tracker platform is audit-based which means you can upload your audit report (from any service provider) in Excel spreadsheet format and track every single issue.

This means you know for certain whether all accessibility issues have been fixed. So long as you received an excellent audit report, you’re in great shape.

Note that virtually all platforms are scan-based which means you won’t know all issues that exist and leaves you at risk.

Tracker also has in-dashboard AI to help your team with all fixes and what’s needed.

You can sign up for a free plan at AccessibilityTracker.com.