ADA website compliance for online stores

What the ADA requires of websites

Title III of the ADA requires places of public accommodation to be accessible to people with disabilities. Many US federal courts apply this to websites that sell to the public. A blind shopper using a screen reader needs buttons, images and forms that announce what they are.

Title III has no technical regulation for private business websites. The Department of Justice's 2022 guidance says businesses can choose how to make their sites accessible and points to WCAG as a helpful reference. In practice, complaints and settlement agreements use WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

In 2024 the DOJ adopted a WCAG 2.1 AA rule for state and local governments under Title II, and in April 2026 it pushed those deadlines to 2027 and 2028. Searches for an "ADA website compliance deadline in April 2026" usually refer to this rule, which does not apply to private businesses.

How many lawsuits

Seyfarth Shaw counts website accessibility lawsuits filed in US federal courts each year:

New York (1,021), Florida (961) and Illinois (585) led in 2025. These counts exclude state courts, where plaintiffs have moved many cases, especially in New York and New Jersey. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act adds statutory damages of at least $4,000 per violation.

UsableNet, which counts federal and state filings together, recorded 2,019 lawsuits in the first half of 2025. 69% targeted e-commerce sites, and only 36% of defendants had annual revenue above $25 million.

How plaintiffs find stores

Plaintiff firms typically scan many stores in one category with automated tools, pick the ones with the most errors, and have a screen reader user try to shop. The barriers they hit go into the complaint. When one brand in a category is sued, similar stores often receive letters soon after.

Issues that appear again and again:

• Product images without alt text, so the screen reader reads a file name
• Icon buttons with no name: cart, search, close, quantity plus and minus
• Unlabelled form fields: search, newsletter, size and color pickers
• Checkout that cannot be completed with a keyboard, or focus that cannot be seen
• Pop-ups that do not take focus or cannot be closed
• Low color contrast

What happens after a lawsuit

Most cases settle. Settlements commonly include a payment and the plaintiff's attorney fees, a deadline to bring the site to WCAG 2.1 AA, an accessibility coordinator and periodic testing. Remediation still has to be done after a settlement, on a fixed schedule.

If you receive a letter or complaint, talk to a US attorney first. For the technical side, see what to do after an ADA demand letter.

ADA website compliance checklist

1. Test the site to see where you stand. Our free accessibility checker scores a store in about a minute.
2. Fix in the order complaints cite issues: alt text, button and form names, keyboard access, pop-ups, contrast.
3. Change the theme code instead of adding an overlay. See why overlays do not prevent lawsuits.
4. Walk from home page to checkout with a keyboard and a screen reader to catch what automated tools miss.
5. Publish an accessibility statement with a way to report problems.
6. Retest after new products, theme changes and new apps, and keep the records.