The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been protecting the rights of people with disabilities for more than 30 years, but questions around exemptions remain one of the most misunderstood areas of compliance.
Below we explain the limited situations where exemptions may apply, what your business needs to consider, and why improving accessibility remains important even if your organization believes it may not have full ADA obligations.
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal civil-rights law that requires employers, governments and public-facing businesses to provide people with disabilities equal access to work, services, buildings, information, and customer transactions.
The ADA is divided into several sections, known as Titles, and each one covers different responsibilities.
- Title I covers employment, and usually applies to employers with 15 or more employees.
- Title II covers state and local government services, programs, websites, and mobile apps.
- Title III covers private entities and nonprofits that are open to the public, like shops, hotels, gyms, and theatres.
What does the Americans with Disabilities Act require?
If your organization falls under scope of the ADA, you must take appropriate action to make your products and services accessible to people with disabilities.
For physical organizations, this could include installing ramps for easy access, while for digital businesses, this could include ensuring content is WCAG compliant. Employers may also need to provide reasonable workplace accommodations unless doing so would create an undue hardship.
Are there any true exemptions under the ADA?
There are a few ADA exemptions that apply, but the rules vary depending on which part of the ADA applies to you. Some of the main exemptions include:
Organizations with 15 or fewer employees
If you have 15 or fewer employees, federal ADA employment rules may not apply to you. Title I covers employers with more than 15 employees for each working day in at least 20 calendar weeks during the current or preceding year. Part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers may count towards the total; however, independent contractors and owners usually do not count.
That said, your staff count does not exclude you from Title III. If you run a shop, salon, restaurant, clinic, gym, hotel, daycare, private school, retail business, or any other service open to the public, you may still have ADA duties even if you have one employee.
Religious organizations
Religious organizations and entities controlled by religious organizations are exempt from Title III. This includes churches, synagogues, mosques, temples, and other religious institutions, as well as any activities controlled by those organizations.
However, you should not assume the exemption removes your duty to be accessible as other rules and regulations may still apply. In addition, if your organization receives federal funding, you may have duties under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Private clubs not open to the public
If you run a private club, you may qualify for a Title III exemption, although having a membership fee does not automatically make your organization a private club.
Factors that may be considered include:
- How membership is controlled
- Whether the club operates commercially
- How much it interacts with non-members
- Whether its facilities are made available to the public.
A club that advertises openly, allows general public access, rents facilities to outside groups, or operates commercial services may not qualify as a private club under the ADA.
Are websites exempt from ADA requirements?
Websites are not automatically exempt from ADA requirements, since the Department of Justice has confirmed they are viewed as places of public accommodation.
A website that allows people to collect information or buy products and services should be designed so it can be used by people with disabilities. Following recognised accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) can help your organization meet obligations and reduce accessibility barriers.
Does the ADA have a compliance deadline?
The ADA does not have one single deadline that applies to every organization. Instead, your compliance requirements depend on the part of the ADA your business comes under, the type of organization you have, and the services you provide.
Title II deadlines for local governments
If you run a state or local government website or mobile app, you must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA by the deadline that applies to your public entity.
- Public entities with a population of 50,000 or more must comply by April 26, 2027
- Smaller public entities and special district governments have until April 26, 2028.
These deadlines were established by the Department of Justice as part of updated Title II accessibility requirements, giving government organizations time to review and improve their digital services.
Title III of the ADA is already enforceable
Businesses covered by Title III are already expected to provide accessible services and remove barriers where required under the ADA. There is no official deadline for Title III, as it is already enforceable in US courts with thousands of lawsuits every year.
Should ADA exempt businesses ignore accessibility requirements?
No, even if you qualify for a compliance exemption, there are still plenty of reasons to make your business accessible. Not only can accessible websites and services help more people complete tasks without needing extra support from your team, they can also improve online bookings, sales, forms, support requests, and customer trust.
On the flip side, ignoring accessibility can damage your brand reputation, reduce your reach, frustrate customers, and lead to complaints or urgent accessibility fixes, which can be costly.
How to meet requirements of ADA compliance
Here is a step-by-step guide to meeting the requirements of ADA compliance:
Step one: Run an automated ADA compliance audit
When starting your compliance journey, we recommend an automated ADA audit to identify potential issues on your website. This will help you quickly identify common problems, such as missing image alt text, insufficient color contrast, improperly labeled form fields, missing headings, and navigation issues. The findings you receive from this report can then provide an important starting point for changes.
Step two: Implement accessibility fixes to address non-compliance
The automated ADA compliance audit will have identified the issues you need to prioritize. Now it’s time to start using the code-ready suggestions to implement the required fixes as soon as possible. This will help to ensure you’re gradually making the website more accessible to people with diverse needs.
Step three: Publish an accessibility statement highlighting your progress
If you don’t already have an accessibility statement, you should make publishing one a priority. This statement lets you tell customers about recent and future accessibility improvements, and how they can report a problem. You should also review this statement every time new changes have been made to your website.
Final verdict on ADA exemptions
The truth about ADA compliance is that there are only a few that are truly exempt, including small businesses, religious organizations, and private clubs. Even if your organization is exempt, accessibility is still the right thing to do as it ensures people with diverse needs can access your information, products, and services.
You can take the first step today by running a free accessibility check of your website.
ADA Compliance exemptions FAQs
Looking for a quick recap? Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions on this topic:
Having fewer than 15 employees may mean your business is not covered by the ADA’s federal employment requirements under Title I. However, this does not automatically exempt you from other parts of the ADA, especially if your business serves the public.
No, nonprofits are not exempt from the ADA simply because they are nonprofit organizations. If a nonprofit operates a place of public accommodation, it may be covered by Title III and must meet the applicable accessibility requirements.
No, a membership fee is not enough. Factors such as how membership is controlled, how the organization operates, its relationship with non-members, and how much access the public has to its facilities may all be relevant.
An automated accessibility scan can identify many common accessibility issues, but it cannot find every barrier or determine how well people with disabilities can use your website. For a complete picture, use both automated testing and manual checks.
WCAG 2.2 Level AA is a good accessibility target for many organizations and provides a recognised framework for identifying and reducing digital accessibility barriers.