Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), businesses must take reasonable efforts to accommodate people with disabilities. That extends to websites and mobile apps: If your business fails to make its digital resources accessible, you might be at risk of a lawsuit.
If you’re reading this article, there’s a decent chance that you’ve already received an ADA demand letter — or you’ve recently learned about the importance of digital accessibility and you’re concerned about compliance.
The first step: Do not panic, and don’t respond directly to the sender. Pledging to fix the issues could be interpreted as evidence of noncompliance. You should contact a qualified attorney as soon as possible.
But while you’re waiting for your attorney to respond, you can take a few proactive steps (and if you haven’t received a letter, these steps will greatly improve compliance).
1. Learn the basics of digital accessibility
To respond to an ADA demand letter, you’ll need to understand why you received the letter. For that, you’ll need clear technical standards.
Published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the internationally recognized standards for digital accessibility. They provide a comprehensive framework for making web content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for people with disabilities.
Crucially, WCAG is the framework for many disability non-discrimination laws, including Title II of the ADA. Title III of the ADA, which applies to private businesses, does not currently have technical standards, but the Department of Justice recommends using WCAG Level AA to evaluate compliance.
We realize that we just threw a bunch of information at you — but we promise, the principles of WCAG aren’t too complicated. Here are some resources to help you learn the basics:
- What Are the Four Major Categories of Accessibility?
- Use of Color for Accessibility Explained
- What's The Difference Between WCAG Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA?
As you learn about digital accessibility, you’ll feel more comfortable reviewing your own content for potential barriers. The W3C’s Understanding WCAG 2.2 documents are an extremely useful resource for learning about specific barriers (and techniques for fixing them).
2. Evaluate the specific claims in web accessibility demand letter
Demand letters will often (but not always) include a list of barriers that impacted the claimant. You can start fixing those issues without a lawyer, though doing so will not necessarily prevent the lawsuit from progressing.
Common issues listed in web accessibility demand letters include:
- Low-contrast text, which may make content unreadable for people with vision disabilities.
- Missing alternative text (alt text) for images, which describes visual content for non-visual users.
- Poor keyboard accessibility, which impacts users who use a keyboard alone (no mouse) to browse the web.
- Missing captions and transcripts, which improve video accessibility.
A close look at the claims may also reveal whether the demand letter is legitimate. For example, an ADA demand letter might identify empty (or null) alternative text for images as a barrier to access. But purely decorative images should use null alt text to prevent those images from being announced to screen reader users.
An accessibility partner can help you evaluate claims to determine whether they make sense. Your partner can also provide guidance for fixing accessibility issues without creating new barriers.
3. Perform a basic web accessibility audit
Accessibility audits fall into two basic categories:
- Automated audits are performed by software and can quickly analyze large amounts of content for basic accessibility issues.
- Manual audits are performed by human experts, and while they’re more expensive and time consuming than automated audits, the results are more accurate
Learn more about the differences between automated and manual audits.
Ultimately, you’ll need to pair automated audits with manual testing to optimize compliance, but a quick automated audit can give you an overview of your website’s current level of accessibility. You can also compare the results to any issues listed in the demand letter.
4. Start fixing accessibility issues and publish an accurate accessibility statement
An accessibility statement is a short declaration on a website that explains your commitment to making the site accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities. It usually details what accessibility standards the website aims to meet (like WCAG), any known limitations, and how users can provide feedback or get help with accessibility issues.
Publishing an accessibility statement can help you reduce your chances of receiving a demand letter — as long as the statement is accurate. We recommend working with an accessibility partner when drafting your statement.
You can also start fixing (or remediating) accessibility issues right away. To plan your remediations, read: Web Accessibility Remediation: A Quick Guide for Getting Started.
Don't wait for a lawsuit to start improving digital accessibility
Many organizations ignore web accessibility until they receive a demand letter — and at that point, it may be too late to avoid a lawsuit. Settling a complaint can cost thousands of dollars; in late 2023, one Maine business settled for $23,000.
But compliance isn’t the only reason to embrace inclusive design. In fact, it’s not even the most compelling reason: When your website works for people with disabilities, it’s a more useful resource for every user. It’s easier for search engines to crawl, so search engine optimization (SEO) metrics tend to improve. Checkout processes are more streamlined and intuitive, which means more conversions.
Accessibility should be a core value for every business, and WCAG provides a straightforward path for adopting the best practices. To learn more, download the Essential Guide to ADA Accessibility Compliance for Websites or get started with a free automated web analysis.
