United States
ADA website compliance
The Americans with Disabilities Act does not contain a website rulebook, yet businesses open to the public are expected to have accessible websites, courts hear thousands of website cases a year, and WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard everyone ends up measured against.
By Sergio Gualda Last reviewed:
What the ADA says about websites
The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed in 1990, before most businesses had a website, and its text never mentions them. What it does say is that people with disabilities must have equal access to the goods and services of businesses open to the public (Title III) and to the programs of state and local government (Title II).
The Department of Justice, which enforces the law, has been clear for years that this includes the web. Its 2022 guidance states that businesses open to the public must make their websites accessible, and that they have flexibility in how they do it, as long as the result works for people with disabilities.
So the honest summary is: there is a legal obligation, but for private businesses there is no official checklist. The checklist everyone uses is WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Who the ADA applies to online
Title III — businesses open to the public. Shops, restaurants, hotels, banks, gyms, clinics, schools, professional services. If people can buy from you, book with you or use your services, your website is part of how you serve them.
Title II — state and local government. Public schools and universities, courts, libraries, transit, utilities and municipal services. Since 2024 they have something private businesses do not: a specific rule with a specific standard (WCAG 2.1 AA) and specific deadlines.
Section 508 — federal agencies. Not part of the ADA, but often confused with it. It applies to federal agencies and the technology they buy, and it incorporates WCAG 2.0 AA. If you sell software to the federal government, you will be asked for a VPAT (an accessibility conformance report).
Online-only businesses sit in a grey zone. Some federal circuits hold that the ADA only reaches a website connected to a physical place; others apply it to websites on their own. Because plaintiffs choose where to file, most of them file where the answer is yes.
The Title II rule and its new dates
In April 2024 the DOJ published its first ADA rule written specifically for the web. It requires state and local governments to make their web content and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Read the DOJ fact sheet.
In April 2026, an interim final rule moved the compliance dates back by one year:
| Entity | Original date | New date |
|---|---|---|
| Population of 50,000 or more | 24 April 2026 | 26 April 2027 |
| Smaller entities and special districts | 26 April 2027 | 26 April 2028 |
The extension changes the timing only. The requirement and the standard stay exactly as they were, and disability rights groups have challenged the delay in court, so the dates should be checked again before you plan around them.
The rule does not apply to private businesses. But it settles a long-running question: when the federal government had to choose a web standard, it chose WCAG 2.1 AA.
Why website lawsuits are so common
Title III lets any person who meets a barrier sue for it. Under federal law the remedy is an order to fix the site plus the plaintiff’s legal fees; some states add money damages on top, which is why so many cases are filed in New York and California.
The volume is real. Seyfarth Shaw counted 3,117 federal lawsuits over inaccessible websites in 2025, up about 27% on 2024, and that figure does not include state courts. Online shops are the most frequent target, and the same law firms often file against many businesses at once.
The barriers named in these complaints are rarely exotic: images without alternative text, buttons with no name, forms a screen reader cannot follow, a checkout that cannot be completed with a keyboard, and text with too little contrast. Almost all of them can be found by an automated test, and fixed, before anyone files anything.
Our guide on ADA website lawsuits covers what a demand letter looks like and what to do if you receive one.
How to check whether your website is ADA compliant
No test can certify compliance, and anyone who promises it is selling something. What you can do is find out where you stand against the standard you would be measured by.
- Run an automated test. Uxerfy’s free accessibility checker opens your page in a real browser and tests it against WCAG 2.2 AA (which includes 2.1 AA). You see every problem it finds, how serious it is and where it is, in about 15 seconds.
- Fix what blocks a task first. Checkout, booking, signup and contact forms carry the risk. A missing alt text on a decorative image does not stop anyone buying; an unlabeled card number field does.
- Try it without a mouse. Unplug it and complete the main task with the Tab key. Our guide to testing in an afternoon walks through it.
- Avoid shortcuts that do not fix anything. An overlay or widget does not change the code that screen readers and keyboards actually use.
- Publish an accessibility statement that says what you have tested, what you know is still broken and how people can reach you if they meet a barrier.
- Test again after every redesign. Accessibility is a property of the current version of the site, not a certificate you earn once.
ADA, WCAG and the European Accessibility Act
If you also sell to customers in the European Union, the European Accessibility Act has applied since June 2025 and points to the same family of standards (EN 301 549, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA). One round of fixes against WCAG 2.2 AA serves both.