ADA Website Compliance: Are You at Legal Risk?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has increasingly been applied to websites, and the number of accessibility lawsuits and demand letters filed each year now runs into the thousands. If your site sells products or services to the public, this risk applies to you.

What courts expect

There is no separate "ADA web code," so courts and settlements consistently point to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the practical standard of accessibility. Meeting it is the clearest way to show good-faith compliance.

Who is most at risk

• E-commerce and retail sites
• Businesses with a physical presence (a "place of public accommodation")
• Sites with checkout flows, bookings, or account logins that screen-reader and keyboard users can't complete

Common issues that trigger complaints

• Images and buttons with no accessible name
• Form fields without labels
• Poor colour contrast
• Content that can't be operated by keyboard
• Inaccessible modals, menus, and carousels

How to reduce your exposure

Test regularly, fix Level A and AA failures first, and keep a record of your remediation. VitalSite scans your whole domain against WCAG 2.1 with axe-core and gives you exact, code-level fixes prioritised by severity. Check your site free.

*This article is general information, not legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney for your specific situation.*