What is an ADA Compliant Website?

What is an ADA compliant website?

An ADA compliant website is a website designed and built in such a way that it is accessible to those with disabilities who browse the web with assistive technology or adaptive devices. Some examples of assistive devices and technology include:

• Screen readers that read aloud web pages for people who cannot read the text
• Screen magnifiers for people with some types of low vision
• Voice recognition software and selection switches for people who cannot use a keyboard or mouse

What is the ADA?

ADA stands for Americans with Disabilities Act Standards for Accessible Design, a United States civil rights law passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life. "Areas of public life" include schools, the workplace, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.

Please note: This article is not legal advice. This is a general opinion article and should not be relied upon for any legal situation. Always consult an attorney who specializes in accessibility for your legal issues.

Does the ADA apply to my business?

Whether the ADA applies to your business website can be more complicated than many people realize.

Different parts of the ADA apply to different situations. When discussing websites, the conversation usually centers around ADA Title III (Public Accommodations), although government websites and employment situations involve different rules.

Understanding the Different Parts of the ADA

The ADA contains several sections that address different types of accessibility obligations.

ADA Title I — Employment

Title I addresses disability discrimination in employment and generally applies to employers with 15 or more employees.

ADA Title II — Government Entities

Title II applies to state and local government organizations, including their digital services and websites.

ADA Title III — Public Accommodations

Title III applies to many businesses and organizations that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail businesses, healthcare providers, entertainment venues, professional offices, and many service businesses.

Website accessibility lawsuits involving private companies are commonly discussed under Title III.

Even if your organization is not legally required to meet a specific accessibility standard, improving accessibility can make your website easier to use for more people, expand your audience, and improve the overall usability of your content.

So...does ADA website accessibility apply to small businesses?

That depends on the type of organization, jurisdiction, and legal interpretation involved.

Because website accessibility law continues to evolve, businesses with questions about their legal obligations should consult qualified accessibility and legal professionals.

ADA vs. 508 vs. WCAG

ADA compliance is sometimes confused with 508 compliance or "WCAG standards". What is the difference?

Section 508

In 1998, Congress amended Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities.

The ADA and Section 508 have the same goals, but Section 508 applies only to Federal government entities.

WCAG

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is a set of formal guidelines for websites that is used to improve accessibility. WCAG is not a law, but rather a set of standards.

WCAG has become the most widely accepted technical framework for web accessibility. It is referenced in government accessibility requirements, legal settlements, audits, and accessibility remediation projects.

For example, the 2017 Section 508 refresh adopted WCAG requirements for federal agencies, and in 2024 the U.S. Department of Justice finalized a rule requiring many state and local government websites to meet WCAG accessibility standards.

Major Accessibility Update: The DOJ's 2024 Rule for Government Websites

In 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice finalized an important digital accessibility rule under Title II of the ADA that affects state and local government websites and mobile applications.

The rule formally requires many state and local government entities to make their digital content accessible using WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard.

This was a significant development because, for years, accessibility lawsuits and enforcement actions often referenced WCAG without formal federal website regulations spelling out a technical standard.

Does the DOJ 2024 rule apply to my small business website?

Probably not directly, unless you are a government entity or contractor working under specific accessibility requirements.

However, private businesses may still face accessibility complaints or litigation under ADA Title III, and WCAG remains the most commonly referenced accessibility benchmark.

However, it is important to understand that this rule applies to state and local governments (Title II). It does not currently establish a federal website standard for most private businesses under ADA Title III.

That said, WCAG continues to be the widely accepted framework organizations use when working toward website accessibility.

Is my website ADA compliant?

If you haven't specifically spent time making your website ADA compliant, then it's a fair bet that it is not. You're not alone. For the last 7 years, the WebAim Million project conducted an annual accessibility analysis of the top 1,000,000 home pages. In 2026, 95.9% of home pages had detected WCAG 2 failures! This was up slightly from 94.8% in 2025.

How can I check if my website is ADA compliant?

There are automated scans that can help detect some items. Keep in mind that only about 30% of issues can be detected by scanners. Using an automated scanner is a place to begin.

At SangFroid Web, we use the WAVE accessibility checker for cursory accessibility checks. The WAVE scanner helps to identify things like:

• Color contrast errors
• Duplicate alternative text on images
• Skipped heading levels (non-semantic)

There are many other scanners available offered for free by companies that are trying to sell tools and services.

Be thoughtful about automated accessibility reports and “instant compliance scores.” Accessibility findings can be useful when they lead to remediation planning and ongoing improvement, but automated scans alone rarely tell the full story of website accessibility.

Can I be sued if my website is not ADA compliant?

If your organization is subject to the ADA, accessibility complaints, enforcement actions, or civil lawsuits may be possible depending on the circumstances.

Website accessibility law continues to evolve, particularly for private businesses, but digital accessibility litigation remains an active area across many industries.

WCAG itself is not a law. However, organizations working toward ADA website accessibility commonly use WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the current accessibility benchmark.

For private business websites under ADA Title III, there is still no single federal regulation that establishes a technical website accessibility standard. However, courts, settlements, audits, and accessibility professionals commonly reference WCAG when evaluating digital accessibility.

• Robles v. Domino's Pizza — a widely cited ADA website accessibility case involving digital ordering access.
• Gil v. Winn-Dixie — an important website accessibility case with notable appellate developments in the 11th Circuit.
• Netflix accessibility litigation — often referenced in discussions involving streaming content and digital accessibility.

Accessibility litigation has involved organizations across industries including ecommerce, hospitality, healthcare, education, entertainment, professional services, and consumer websites.

How do I make my website ADA compliant?

Manual Audit & Remediation

The path to full website accessibility is a two step process. The first step is a manual website audit by a reputable Accessibility company, and the second step is website remediation based on the audit results.

Please beware: There are no instant solutions to web accessibility and any super fast turnarounds (for example..."instant" or 48 hours) are suspect and likely worthless. Web accessibility is a process that involves a manual accessibility audit and actual editing of code and content review.

What if a full accessibility audit isn't realistic for my organization right now?

Take the steps you can to work toward web accessibility.

1. Start by addressing the accessibility issues that are identified by automated scanners like WAVE. Some issues will be easy fixes and others may require working with your web designer/developer....and be prepared to be creative with your brand colors in order to achieve sufficient color contrast.
2. Include an accessibility statement on your website that indicates you are working on your website accessibility and provides a way for someone to contact you about any issues they have encountered. (More on accessibility statements below)
3. Make a plan to address the accessibility for any new content as it is added on your website to minimize issues going forward.

Can AI Help With Website Accessibility?

AI tools are increasingly being used to assist with website accessibility work. They can save time, support content creation, and help identify potential accessibility issues — but they are not a substitute for accessibility knowledge, testing, or remediation.

Ways AI Can Support Accessibility Efforts

Used thoughtfully, AI tools can help organizations improve aspects of accessibility work.

• Generating draft alternative text for images
• Creating captions, transcripts, or summaries for media content
• Identifying potential readability or plain language improvements
• Assisting with accessibility testing workflows and code review
• Helping content creators remember accessibility considerations during publishing

AI Does Not Automatically Make a Website Accessible

Accessibility still requires human judgment, testing, and an understanding of how people actually use assistive technologies.

For example, AI-generated alt text may be inaccurate or miss important context. Automated tools may overlook keyboard navigation issues, confusing focus behavior, poor form usability, or accessibility problems that only become obvious during manual testing.

Accessibility work typically still involves thoughtful design decisions, semantic markup, content review, manual testing, and ongoing maintenance.

Accessibility Overlays Are Not the Answer

Please don't be tempted by accessibility overlay quick fixes.

Accessibility overlays do not make websites accessible, despite their claims to do so. This is made clear in the EyeBobs lawsuit involving an accessibility overlay.  Like many, many thousands of websites, EyeBobs employed an accessibility overlay to try and mitigate their website accessibility issues. This did not protect them from a lawsuit, and actually provided more evidence from an expert witness, who wrote a 35-page blistering indictment about how inaccessible the Eyebobs’ website was -- despite using an accessibility overlay.

Accessibility overlays are not a substitute for accessibility remediation or comprehensive testing. Organizations using overlays have still faced accessibility complaints and litigation.

Accessibility overlays (also known as accessibility tools, plugins, and widgets) attempt to make websites accessible by adding an icon in the lower corner of the site that provides assistive technology for browsing a site.

However, these tools force users with disabilities to use the assistive technology provided by the overlay instead of the assistive technology that the user prefers and that is already customized to their unique needs. These overlays do not make websites accessible, and they can create other accessibility problems for users. They also do not protect companies from lawsuits as evidenced by more lawsuits being filed against companies using accessibility plugin/overlays.

Example of an Accessibility Overlay Making a Website Less Accessible

This video demonstrates how accessibility widgets (or overlays) duplicate assistive technologies that people already have set up in their browsers. This video shows how turning on the JAWS screen reader and trying to use a website equipped with an "accessibility widget" was a nightmare and rendered the site unusable.

Accessibility overlays....make them stop....seriously, overlays are not the answer. Read the Overlay Fact Sheet for more information on overlays.