Is Your Website ADA Accessible? (Lawsuit Risk for Small Businesses)
Higher-risk issue — be cautious and consider professional help sooner.
You have heard about businesses being sued or getting demand letters because their websites are hard to use for people with disabilities, and you want to know how exposed your own site is and what to do about it.
Common signs of this issue
- You received a letter or email from a law firm claiming your website violates the ADA and asking for a settlement.
- Images on your site have no text descriptions, so a screen reader announces only a file name or nothing at all.
- You cannot move through your menu, forms, or checkout using only the Tab and Enter keys on a keyboard.
- Text is light gray on white, sits on busy photos, or is too small to read comfortably without zooming.
- Form fields rely on placeholder text instead of real labels, or error messages are shown only in red.
- Videos have no captions, and important information exists only inside images or PDFs.
- Someone is selling you a widget or plugin that promises instant ADA compliance with one line of code.
Safe checks you can do yourself
None of these require sharing passwords with anyone.
- Do the keyboard test. Put your mouse aside, click into the address bar, and press Tab repeatedly. You should be able to reach every link, menu item, button, and form field in a sensible order, see where you are on the page, and use Enter or the Space bar to activate things. Getting stuck or losing track is a real barrier.
- Run a free automated checker such as WAVE (from WebAIM) or the accessibility section of Google Lighthouse in Chrome's developer tools on your homepage, contact page, and checkout or booking page. Treat the results as a starting list, not a verdict — automated tools catch only a portion of real problems.
- Check your images. Photos that carry meaning, such as product shots or a staff photo, should have short alternative text describing them. Purely decorative images should be marked so screen readers skip them.
- Zoom your browser to 200 percent and try using the site. Text should grow without overlapping or disappearing, and nothing important should require sideways scrolling.
- Look at forms. Each field needs a visible label, required fields should be marked in words and not only by color, and error messages should say what went wrong.
- Try a screen reader for five minutes. VoiceOver is built into iPhones and Macs, Narrator into Windows, and NVDA is a free Windows screen reader. Listening to your own homepage is often eye-opening.
- If you received a demand letter, save it, note any deadline, and contact a business attorney before responding. Also check whether your business insurance covers this kind of claim.
What this usually means
The Americans with Disabilities Act was written before the modern web, and its rules for private businesses do not spell out website requirements. The Department of Justice has said that the websites of businesses open to the public should be accessible, and courts have generally agreed that many business websites are covered, though they have disagreed about details such as sites with no physical location. In 2024 the DOJ adopted a rule that sets WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard for state and local government websites under Title II; that rule does not directly apply to private businesses, but WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard most commonly cited in lawsuits, settlements, and demand letters against businesses. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Thousands of website accessibility lawsuits are filed in the US each year, and small and mid-sized businesses receive a large share of them, often from a small number of repeat filers. Many are brought in federal court under the ADA; some are brought under state laws such as California's, which can allow money damages. The claims usually cite concrete barriers a screen reader or keyboard user hit: missing alt text, unlabeled buttons, forms that cannot be completed, or a checkout that cannot be used without a mouse. Being small does not make a business exempt, and a demand letter is a legal matter that deserves an attorney's eye.
The practical answer is real accessibility work, not a shortcut. Overlay widgets — the add-on toolbars that promise instant compliance — have been widely criticized by accessibility professionals and by many disabled users, have not stopped businesses using them from being sued, and in 2025 the Federal Trade Commission took action against one well-known overlay vendor over its claims that its product made websites compliant. Fixing the underlying site — alt text, labels, contrast, keyboard access, captions, sensible headings — improves usability for everyone, helps with search, and is what actually reduces risk. For most small sites it is a manageable, one-time project followed by good habits.
What not to do
- Don't ignore a demand letter or lawsuit, and don't respond to it yourself. Talk to an attorney before replying or paying anything.
- Don't rely on an overlay widget as your whole plan. It does not fix the underlying code and has not protected businesses from being sued.
- Don't trust a single automated scan score of 100 as proof you are accessible. Automated tools cannot judge many real barriers.
- Don't pay for a compliance certificate or badge that promises lawsuit immunity. No such guarantee exists.
- Don't rebuild the whole site in a panic. Most problems can be fixed on the site you have, starting with the most important pages.
- Don't remove useful content, like videos or PDFs, just to avoid making it accessible. Add captions or an accessible version instead.
When to get help
If you have received a demand letter or been served, your first call is to an attorney, not a web developer — they can advise on your obligations and deadlines, and a developer's work then supports that advice. Outside of legal action, it is worth bringing in help when an automated scan shows more issues than you can make sense of, when your site is built on a theme or page builder that fights basic fixes, or when your checkout, booking, or contact forms fail the keyboard test. A person who does manual testing with a keyboard and screen reader can prioritize the barriers that actually block customers, fix them in the site's code, and give you a short list of habits, like writing alt text for new images, so it stays accessible.
Not sure what to do next?
Answer a few short questions and we'll point you to the safest next step — DIY, a freelancer, or a direct review. No passwords required.
Is this a business website? If this issue may be costing you leads, sales, or trust, you may want a direct review instead of trial and error.
Frequently asked questions
Does the ADA apply to my small business website?
It may. The DOJ has said websites of businesses open to the public should be accessible, and many courts have treated business websites as covered, though courts have disagreed on some details. Size alone does not exempt a business. For a definite answer about your situation, ask an attorney.
What is WCAG 2.1 AA?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are a set of testable standards published by the W3C. Level AA of version 2.1 is the level most commonly cited in accessibility lawsuits and settlements, and the DOJ adopted it for state and local government websites in 2024. A newer version, WCAG 2.2, adds a few more requirements.
Will an accessibility overlay widget protect me from a lawsuit?
No tool can promise that. Overlays have been widely criticized by accessibility experts and disabled users, businesses using them have still been sued, and the FTC took action against one overlay vendor in 2025 over its compliance claims. Fixing the site itself is the approach that actually reduces risk.
I received an ADA demand letter. What should I do?
Do not ignore it and do not reply on your own. Save it, note any deadline, contact a business attorney, and check whether your insurance covers the claim. Separately, you can begin documenting and fixing accessibility barriers, which your attorney may find helpful.
Can I check my own website for accessibility problems?
You can find many of them. Try navigating with only the keyboard, run a free checker like WAVE, zoom to 200 percent, and listen to a page with a built-in screen reader. These checks catch common problems, but a full review needs manual testing by someone experienced.
How much work is it to make a small business site accessible?
For most small sites it is a manageable project: adding alt text, fixing labels and contrast, making menus and forms keyboard friendly, and captioning videos. Sites built on heavily customized themes or page builders can take longer, and keeping it accessible afterward is mostly about good habits when adding content.