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What is ADA Website Compliance?
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance for websites refers to ensuring that digital content is accessible to individuals with disabilities, such as those with vision or hearing impairments. The ADA was originally enacted in 1990 to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities. It has since been interpreted to apply to websites, requiring them to be operable for people with disabilities.
Compliance is typically measured using the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which outline best practices for making websites more inclusive. Elements such as providing text alternatives for images, keyboard navigation options, and screen reader compatibility are all key. Ensuring ADA compliance helps businesses avoid legal issues but also broadens access to online information and services.
What are the Most Common ADA Issues?
- Lack of keyboard navigation support
- Insufficient color contrast
- Missing or non-descriptive alt text for images
- Non-descriptive link text
- Inaccessible forms and without proper labels or instructions
- Multimedia content such as video or audio that does not have captions or transcripts
- Unable to complete transactions or add-to-cart and checkout on eCommerce sites
What are the Most Common Items in ADA Lawsuits?
The issues listed in ADA lawsuits run the gamut, but more often than not the following are what are being cited:
- Screen readers are unable to read banners or navigation links
- Missing alt text
- Inability to complete transactions or use cart functions
What Are the Most Targeted Industries?
By far the top three areas targeted with lawsuits are the following:
- 30% Consumer durable goods
- 20% Food and drink
- 20% Retailing
What States Are Most Listed in Lawsuits?
Lawsuits come through all states, but by far the #1 is NY followed by CA. But just because your state isn’t listed doesn’t mean your website doesn’t need to be ADA compliant. These states are just easier to get real money from these lawsuits.
- NY 64%
- CA 19%
- FL 8%
- IL 4%
- PA 2%
Rates of Lawsuits
Lawsuits saw a decrease of 47% in 2024, when compared to 2023.
Does this mean that these lawsuits are going away? No. The rates that are reported are only on lawsuits filed – not on demand letters that are settled. It could be that because we’ve seen a reported trend in lawsuits targeting smaller businesses- because they are more easily going to cave and pay an amount to have not go to court – we see less actual lawsuits due to being settled out of court.
Additionally, there has been an increase of 73% targeting retailing alone. That’s a huge number which needs to be considered. Those with online shopping need to be more vigilant on their ADA compliance.
Predictions for 2025
- More focus on mobile accessibility.
- More lawsuits and demand letters targeting smaller businesses rather than the big corporations.
- Less use of overlay widgets. All complaints that were logged in 2024 completely disregard the use of these.
- Accessibe had to pay out over $1mil due to claiming too much
- There are some good ones but most are bad
- More manual reviews
2025 Recommendations for Businesses
- Ensure your team is trained on ADA compliance.
- Embed accessibility into your process so it becomes the norm.
- Include usability testing by actual impaired individuals.
- Regularly audit your website.
- Ensure you are also addressing your mobile platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
The quickest way to check if your website meets Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements is by running an accessibility scan with free online tools available. While these tools won’t catch every issue, they provide a solid initial assessment of whether your site aligns with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the standard the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) uses to enforce ADA compliance.
There are many third-party experts and websites that can help such as WAVE. Or, try yourself using our ADA Compliance Checklist. Or, contact TheeDigital for an ADA Compliance Audit.
That depends on how your website is built and who has control of it. Much of the ADA compatibility issues are programming-type issues which would need to be done by an expert.
Having a physical store for your business has nothing to do with ADA compliance on the internet. Your website still needs to be used by people with disabilities.
This number is difficult to know for sure, but most reports state somewhere from $5,000 – $20,000 or more, depending on the size and type of business.
If you receive an ADA compliance demand letter about your website, immediately consult legal counsel, review the letter carefully and have your legal counsel assist in drafting a response. Meanwhile, assess your website for accessibility issues, and develop a compliance plan and act on it.
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