Is Your Website ADA Compliant?
If your website isn't accessible to people with disabilities, you're not just missing customers — you may be facing legal risk. Here's what you need to know, explained in plain language.
What Does ADA Compliance Mean for Websites?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires businesses to be accessible to people with disabilities. While the law was originally written for physical spaces, courts have consistently ruled that it applies to websites too.
In practice, this means your website needs to work for people who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, or other assistive technology. The standard most businesses follow is called WCAG 2.1 Level AA — a set of technical guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
You don't need to memorize the WCAG spec. You just need to make sure your website doesn't create barriers for people trying to use it.
Why This Matters for Your Business
4,600+
ADA lawsuits filed in 2023 alone
And the number keeps growing year over year. Small businesses are increasingly targeted.
26%
of U.S. adults have a disability
That's roughly 1 in 4 potential customers who may struggle to use your website.
$10K–$75K
typical settlement range
Most ADA website lawsuits settle without going to trial, but settlements aren't cheap.
Beyond legal risk, accessibility is good business. Accessible websites tend to have better SEO, faster load times, and lower bounce rates. When your site works well for people with disabilities, it works better for everyone.
The Most Common Accessibility Issues
Our site analyzer checks for all of these automatically. Here's what each one means and why it matters.
Missing alt text on images
Impact: Screen readers can't describe images to blind users, and it's the #1 issue cited in ADA lawsuits.
Fix: Add descriptive alt text to every meaningful image. Decorative images get empty alt="".
Unlabeled form inputs
Impact: Screen reader users can't tell what information to enter. Contact forms become unusable.
Fix: Every input needs a visible <label> element connected to it.
No keyboard navigation
Impact: Users who can't use a mouse — including those with motor disabilities — can't navigate your site.
Fix: Ensure all interactive elements (buttons, links, menus) are reachable with Tab and activatable with Enter.
Missing skip navigation
Impact: Keyboard users must tab through every single navigation link on every page before reaching content.
Fix: Add a "Skip to main content" link as the first focusable element on every page.
Low color contrast
Impact: Users with low vision or color blindness can't read text. WCAG requires at least 4.5:1 contrast ratio.
Fix: Test your color combinations. Light gray text on white backgrounds is the most common offender.
Generic link text
Impact: Screen reader users who navigate by links hear "click here" and "read more" with no context about where the link goes.
Fix: Use descriptive link text: "View our pricing packages" instead of "click here."
Missing page language
Impact: Screen readers don't know which pronunciation rules to use. English text might be read with French pronunciation.
Fix: Add lang="en" (or your language) to the <html> element.
No heading structure
Impact: Screen reader users rely on headings to navigate. Without a proper H1 → H2 → H3 hierarchy, pages feel like a wall of text.
Fix: Use one H1 per page, then H2s for sections, H3s for subsections. Never skip levels.
From Audit to Compliant — We Handle It
Our free site analyzer scans your website for the most common accessibility issues in seconds. You get a detailed report with specific problems and their business impact — no dev jargon, just plain-language explanations.
If you want help fixing what we find, our team handles the remediation. We fix the accessibility issues, test the results, and give you a clean report. Most sites can be brought into compliance within 1–2 weeks.
Scan
Run our free analyzer to see where you stand
Fix
Our team resolves the issues we find
Verify
Get a clean report you can share
Find Out Where You Stand
Our free site analyzer checks for all the issues listed above — plus SEO, content quality, and technical health. Takes about 10 seconds.