ADA Compliance for Websites

The Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses to provide equal access to their goods and services, and courts have increasingly applied this requirement to websites. Here is what business owners need to know.

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific questions about your obligations under the ADA, consult a qualified attorney.

What Is the ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. It is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in areas of public life, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to government services. The ADA is enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Title III of the ADA requires that businesses open to the public, called "places of public accommodation," provide equal access to people with disabilities. While the original text of the law was written before the commercial internet existed, the DOJ and federal courts have increasingly interpreted Title III to apply to websites and mobile applications.

Does the ADA Apply to Websites?

The ADA does not explicitly mention websites. However, the DOJ has stated in guidance documents and settlement agreements that web accessibility is covered under the ADA. In April 2024, the DOJ published a final rule under Title II of the ADA requiring state and local governments to make their websites accessible, specifically referencing WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the standard. While this rule applies directly to government entities, it signals the DOJ's position on web accessibility broadly.

Federal courts have reached different conclusions depending on the jurisdiction. Some courts have held that a website must have a connection to a physical location to fall under the ADA, while others have ruled that websites alone can be places of public accommodation. The trend in recent case law has been toward broader application. Businesses of all types should take website accessibility seriously regardless of whether they operate a physical location.

Who Needs to Comply?

Under Title III of the ADA, any business that is a "place of public accommodation" must comply. The law lists 12 categories of public accommodations, which include:

  • Hotels, restaurants, and bars
  • Theaters, concert halls, and stadiums
  • Stores, shopping centers, and retail businesses
  • Doctors' offices, hospitals, and pharmacies
  • Parks, zoos, and places of recreation
  • Schools and educational institutions
  • Day care centers and senior centers
  • Professional offices (lawyers, accountants, etc.)

In practice, this covers most businesses that serve the public. If you have a website and you serve customers, you should be thinking about accessibility.

What Does Accessibility Mean in Practice?

Web accessibility means designing and building websites so that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the content. The widely accepted technical standard is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Most legal requirements and settlement agreements reference WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the target standard.

WCAG is organized around four principles. Content must be:

  • Perceivable -- Users must be able to perceive the content (e.g., images need alt text, videos need captions)
  • Operable -- Users must be able to operate the interface (e.g., keyboard navigation must work, no content should cause seizures)
  • Understandable -- Users must be able to understand the information and interface (e.g., consistent navigation, clear error messages)
  • Robust -- Content must work with current and future assistive technologies (e.g., proper HTML semantics, ARIA attributes where needed)

Common Accessibility Issues

Many websites fail basic accessibility requirements. Some of the most common problems include:

  • Images without alternative text descriptions
  • Insufficient color contrast between text and backgrounds
  • Forms without proper labels
  • Navigation that cannot be used with a keyboard alone
  • Videos without captions or transcripts
  • Links and buttons with unclear or generic text (e.g., "click here")
  • Missing document structure (headings, landmarks, lists)
  • Pop-ups and modals that trap keyboard focus

Legal Consequences

ADA website accessibility lawsuits have increased significantly in recent years. According to accessibility research firms, thousands of ADA-related web accessibility lawsuits are filed annually in federal courts. Businesses that are sued typically face:

  • Legal fees -- Defending against an ADA lawsuit can cost tens of thousands of dollars, even if you settle quickly
  • Settlement costs -- Most cases settle out of court, often requiring the business to pay damages and agree to remediate their website within a set timeframe
  • Injunctive relief -- Courts can order businesses to make their websites accessible
  • Repeat litigation -- Businesses that fail to fix accessibility issues after a lawsuit may be sued again

The ADA does not include specific statutory damages for Title III violations (unlike some state laws). However, the cost of litigation alone makes non-compliance expensive. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, for example, allows statutory damages of a minimum of $4,000 per violation, which has led to a high volume of lawsuits in that state.

Practical Steps for Website Owners

Making your website accessible does not have to happen all at once, but you should start now. Here are practical steps:

  1. Audit your current site -- Use free tools like the WAVE accessibility checker or the Lighthouse audit in Chrome DevTools to identify issues
  2. Fix the most critical issues first -- Start with alt text for images, form labels, color contrast, and keyboard navigation
  3. Use semantic HTML -- Proper heading structure, landmark elements, and lists help screen readers understand your page
  4. Test with a keyboard -- Navigate your entire website using only the Tab key, Enter key, and arrow keys to find barriers
  5. Add an accessibility statement -- Let users know your commitment to accessibility and provide a way to report issues
  6. Work with knowledgeable developers -- When building or redesigning your site, choose a developer who understands WCAG requirements
  7. Make accessibility ongoing -- Every time you add new content or features, check that they are accessible

For a deeper look at WCAG guidelines and accessibility best practices, visit our Accessibility section in the Learning Center.

A Note on Accessibility Overlays

Some companies sell automated accessibility "overlay" widgets that claim to make your website ADA compliant with a single line of code. The accessibility community, disability advocacy organizations, and many legal experts have raised serious concerns about these products. Overlay widgets do not fix underlying code issues, can interfere with screen readers, and have not prevented businesses from being sued. A better approach is to fix accessibility issues in your website's actual code and design.

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