The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been around since the 90s, but in recent years, lawsuits have skyrocketed, particularly in the digital world. In 2023 alone, for example, over 4,000 digital accessibility cases were filed across the US, putting any business with a website in the ADA’s line of sight. If your business has a website, and let’s be honest, whose doesn’t? ADA compliance should be your top priority. But what exactly does ADA compliance mean, and how can you ensure your website meets the necessary standards? Let’s find out.
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
The ADA was a law passed in 1990 for the purpose of protecting individuals with disabilities from discrimination. Broadly speaking, it ensures equal access to public spaces, employment, and digital resources, by demanding that organizations of varying sectors meet certain requirements.
What are these requirements? To find out, we must unpack the five sections of the ADA, called titles. Each title outlines a broad set of rules for a particular sector.
- Title I – Employment: Prohibits workplace discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Employers with 15 or more employees must provide reasonable accommodations, such as accessible workspaces, assistive technology, and modified job roles when necessary.
- Title II – State & Local Government: Requires government agencies, public transportation, and other state-run services to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. This includes making digital services, public facilities, and communication methods inclusive.
- Title III – Public Accommodations: Mandates that businesses open to the public, such as hotels, restaurants, retail stores, and healthcare facilities, must remove accessibility barriers. This applies to both physical locations and digital spaces like websites and mobile apps.
- Title IV – Telecommunications: Ensures that telephone and internet-based communication services are accessible to individuals with speech and hearing disabilities. It mandates the provision of relay services and closed captioning for television programming.
- Title V – Miscellaneous Provisions: Includes additional legal protections, covering aspects such as retaliation against individuals asserting their rights, relationships with other laws, and accessibility requirements in new construction projects.
Who needs to comply with the ADA?
Clearly, the ADA wasn’t just designed for large corporations. It applies to entities, both public and private, of all different shapes and sizes. If your organization falls into one of the categories below, then the ADA applies to you.
- State and local governments
- Businesses with more than 15 employees
- Public accommodations
Let’s hone in on the term ‘public accommodations’ for a moment. Originally, public accommodations focused on physical locations like restaurants, hotels, and retail stores (any private business or facility open to the public).
However, courts have increasingly interpreted websites as “public accommodations”, meaning businesses must make their virtual, as well as their physical, spaces accessible to users with disabilities. Given that over 70% of small businesses in the U.S. have a website, this shift has significant implications.
While there are few exemptions to ADA compliance, they do exist. These exemptions are limited to the likes of private clubs, religious organizations, and small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.
What is the main standard for ADA compliant websites?
While the ADA itself doesn’t specify website requirements, courts and regulators still need a benchmark to refer to. For that, they rely on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) — internationally recognized as the gold standard of everything digital accessibility.
Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the WCAG provides specific technical standards for how to achieve digital accessibility. Its standards are based on four core principles, known as POUR principles:
- Perceivable (content must be available to all senses)
- Operable (users must be able to navigate it easily)
- Understandable (content must be readable and predictable)
- Robust (works across different assistive technologies)
Based on these principles, the W3C issues specific recommendations around things like keyboard accessibility, text alternatives, color contrast, etc. If you want your website to be ADA compliant, the best thing you can do is follow WCAG 2.1 AA guidance.
What are the risks of not complying with ADA standards?
In an ideal world, accessibility would regulate itself. But since it doesn’t, the threat of ADA lawsuits is very real. The fallout from such a lawsuit can be as damaging as any other legal battle, affecting your finances, reputation, and business operations all at the same time. Here’s what’s at stake for your business.
Fines & Legal Penalties
Businesses owners who fail to make their website ADA compliant can face fines of up to $75,000 for a first violation and $150,000 for additional violations. These penalties apply to any non-compliant organization, regardless of intent.
Costly Litigation
A single lawsuit can result in thousands in legal fees, even if you settle outside of court. Many businesses have faced class-action lawsuits due to inaccessible websites, leading to significant financial strain.
Reputation Damage
Non-compliance with the ADA reflects poorly on your business. After all, if you’re willing to neglect something as important as accessibility, what else might you be willing to neglect? Once a lawsuit is made public, negative press and social media backlash can lead to a whole heap of new problems, including customer churn and a drop in leads — both of which have the ability to erode your bottom line.
Expensive Website Overhauls
As well as fines, lawsuits often result in costly website overhauls. Businesses who fail to comply with the ADA may therefore have to invest in costly, time-sensitive redesigns in order to meet compliance standards. This might involve diverting resources away from existing projects or hiring web accessibility experts to implement WCAG-compliant strategies.
Customer Churn
An inaccessible website sends a clear message to those with disabilities — that they are not welcome. Even if this isn’t the intention, it is certainly how it comes across. Given that 1 in 4 American adults are believed to have a disability, this is one market segment you cannot afford to exclude.
Examples of ADA compliance violations and how to fix them
If you’ve made it this far, you’re likely one of the many businesses that need to ensure ADA compliance—and do so quickly, before lawsuits start piling up. In this section, we look at some common ADA violations and how to fix them. If any of these sound familiar, we recommend heading straight to your website to address them; but not before finishing reading the rest of this guide, of course.
Missing Alt Text on Images
Visually impaired users rely on screen readers to consume digital content. In order for their screen readers to interpret images correctly, each image needs a respective alt text description. Add descriptive alt text to all images, ensuring they accurately convey what the image depicts. Be descriptive but don’t overwhelm the reader with an essay-like description. Opt for something like, “a woman in a wheelchair entering a coffee shop”, rather than just “woman”.
No Video Captions
Videos without captions are inaccessible to those with hearing impairments. Provide accurate captions for all videos that are correctly synced with the visuals. For audio-only content, like podcasts, issue transcripts alongside them, ensuring dialogue and important sounds are included.
Poor Color Contrast
If there is little color contrast between the text on your website and the background on which it sits, the content becomes almost impossible for users with visual impairments to read. To prevent this, make sure your website’s palette has a minimum contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal-sized text, as is set-out in the WCAG’s standards. Generally, classic color combinations like black and white, or dark blue and light gray, work well, but you should always use a color contrast checker to verify.
Empty Links or Buttons
Links or buttons without descriptive text can confuse users relying on screen readers, as they do not provide meaningful navigation cues. Ensure descriptive labels that provide information about the destination of the link or button without being too long; for example, link text that reads “Find out More About Accessibility” instead of just “Click Here”.
Lack of Keyboard Accessibility
Websites were traditionally designed for mouse users. However, many users, such as those with motor impairments, rely on keyboards to navigate the web. To ensure your website is keyboard accessible, users should be able to cycle through menu options, links, and buttons using the Tab key. For this, you will need to properly structure your content with semantic HTML, create a logical tab order, and provide visible focus indicators so your users know which element is selected.
Missing Form Labels
Forms without proper labels make it difficult for assistive technologies, like screen readers, to convey what input fields are for. This can lead to confusion and can prevent completion of the form. Make sure each form field is labelled clearly, include instructions where relevant, and ensure any error messages are informative.
Inaccessible Captchas
Captchas that require users to identify distorted text or images exclude those with visual impairments. Instead, provide alternative Captcha options, such as audio challenges or logic-based verification questions that do not rely solely on vision.
How to detect ADA compliance errors on your website
The best and most efficient way to detect ADA compliance errors on your website is with an automated testing tool. These tools can provide a detailed report outlining accessibility issues and solutions with just a quick scan of your website.
Here at Accessibility Checker, you can use our checker tool to identify and fix ADA compliance issues immediately.
The importance of ADA training for employees
Training your employees around ADA topics can be of huge benefit to your organization. It goes beyond just compliance and addresses broader inclusivity issues like unconscious bias and accessibility best practices. Crucially, it helps staff understand their role in creating and maintaining an inclusive environment.
Effective training also minimizes the risk of compliance violations by ensuring staff are well-versed in legal requirements and know which measures to take to meet them.
The specific topics covered will depend on the team receiving the training. For instance, IT teams should focus on WCAG standards, while HR should explore inclusive hiring practices. Ultimately, ADA training empowers businesses to cultivate both a digitally and physically accessible workplace.
Examples of real ADA lawsuits in the United States
ADA website violations are high and rising. In 2023, ADA Title III violations reached 2,794; a figure that saw a meaningful increase in 2024. But numbers don’t mean much without real-life examples to put them into context, so in this section, we’ll outline a couple of the most notorious ADA lawsuits.
Murphy vs. Eyebobs
In January 2021, Anthony Hammond Murphy, a blind individual, filed a lawsuit against Eyebobs, an online eyewear retailer. Murphy alleged that Eyebobs’ website was not accessible to visually impaired users, violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Specifically, he claimed that the website lacked features compatible with screen readers, hindering his ability to navigate and make purchases.
The case was settled with a consent decree. While Eyebobs denied the allegations, they agreed to implement a comprehensive plan to enhance website accessibility. This included hiring an accessibility consultant to ensure the website met WCAG 2.1 standards within 24 months, as well as paying the plaintiff $1,000.
Robles vs. Domino’s Pizza
In this case, Guillermo Robles, a blind individual, sued Domino’s Pizza, alleging that their website and mobile application were not accessible to visually impaired users. As such, Domino’s was being accused of violating not only Title III of the ADA, but California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act as well. Robles claimed he was unable to order food online due to these accessibility barriers.
After extensive litigation, Domino’s settled with Robles in June 2022. The terms of the settlement were not publicly disclosed. However, prior court decisions mandated Domino’s to update its digital platforms to comply with WCAG standards. Additionally, Domino’s was ordered to pay Robles $4,000 under California’s Unruh Act.
This case emphasizes the importance of not just federal accessibility laws, but state laws too.
Conclusion: The importance of building accessible websites
Around 71% of small businesses in the U.S. have a website. This makes websites the modern-day equivalent of the brick-and-mortar shopfront. Now imagine if all of those sites were made accessible; the impact this could have on creating a fairer society would be huge.
Of course, there are business benefits to investing in accessibility too. You’ve put in the hard work to make your site inclusive, so why not reap the rewards?
Ultimately, the internet should be a place where everyone can engage, explore, and participate. So, why settle for anything less? Do right by your customers and make web accessibility a priority.
ADA Compliance FAQs
The Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA applies to state and local governments, businesses with more than 15 employees, and places of public accommodation.
Fines for non-compliance can reach up to $75,000 for first-time violations, or up to $150,000 for repeat offences.
A place of public accommodation is any business that is open to the public, such as hotels, theatres, and restaurants, but also websites and mobile applications.
Use Accessibility Checker’s automated tool to rapidly scan your website for any non-compliant features.