The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to the digital world, not just physical spaces. To achieve ADA compliance, many types of organizations—from private businesses to state and local government entities—must maintain accessible websites.
Prioritizing web accessibility not only mitigates your risk of a lawsuit, but also enhances your website’s user experience. At first, though, navigating ADA website compliance can be confusing, if not outright intimidating. This quick guide is designed to help you confidently kick-start the process.
Your ADA compliance checklist
Digital accessibility does not happen overnight. Meeting the ADA requirements for websites requires careful planning, resource allocation, and patience. However, you can streamline the process by breaking it down into the following five steps.
1. Understand your organization’s obligations under the ADA
The first step toward bringing your website into ADA compliance is gaining a clear understanding of your organization’s obligations under the law when it comes to digital accessibility. Different sections of the ADA apply to different types of organizations, and their requirements vary in specificity.
For example, a rule issued in 2024 by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) explicitly requires entities covered by ADA Title II, which applies to state and local government organizations, to make their websites conformant to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.1 Level AA by 2026. While specific, technical standards for Title III entities—including private businesses open to the public—have not yet been released, the DOJ has referenced WCAG as the compliance benchmark in private enforcement actions.
2. Request an accessibility audit
An accessibility audit will help you identify areas where your website may fall short of ADA accessibility guidelines. During this audit, a third-party expert will evaluate your site’s current accessibility status by checking for potential issues like missing alt text for images, poor color contrast, and lack of keyboard navigation. After testing is complete, you’ll receive an accessibility audit report detailing the findings. You can think of this report as an ADA compliance checklist for your website. For instance, the audit may reveal insufficient color contrast, missing alt text, or a lack of screen reader compatibility.
For the most comprehensive results, an audit should include functional testing by people with disabilities. This testing phase ensures that your website meets both the ADA standards and the needs of real-world users.
3. Fix accessibility issues
Once you’ve identified and documented any existing accessibility issues on your website, it’s time to start fixing them. This process may involve making changes to both the front-end and back-end of your site, and may require participation from teams across your organization, including designers as well as developers. Common fixes that must be implemented during this stage include adding accurate alt text for images, adding headings and subheadings to text content, ensuring there is sufficient color contrast between text and background elements, and making captions and transcriptions available for audiovisual content.
4. Implement ongoing accessibility monitoring
As you add new content and capabilities to your website, you can introduce new accessibility errors. To help keep your website ADA compliant over time, consider implementing monitoring tools that automatically scan your website for accessibility issues at regular intervals. These tools can detect common errors such as missing alt text, improper form labels, and keyboard navigation traps. Continuous monitoring will help you swiftly identify and address emerging accessibility barriers before they impact a large number of users.
5. Stay updated on ADA accessibility guidelines
The digital accessibility landscape evolves regularly as new ADA accessibility guidelines and standards emerge. For example, a new version of WCAG (2.2) was released in 2023, and version 3.0 is now being drafted. While the current technical standard for ADA Title II compliance is WCAG 2.1, being aware of new and emerging guidelines will help future-proof your website. Subscribing to resources from reputable accessibility organizations and consulting with ADA compliance experts are both effective ways to stay informed about best practices.
Beyond ADA compliance: Building an inclusive and accessible digital world
Creating an accessible website not only helps your organization adhere to ADA regulations—it also broadens your reach and enriches the experience for all visitors. By following these steps to ADA compliance, your organization can ultimately deliver more engaging, inclusive, and impactful web content. Accessible design isn’t just a legal necessity—it’s a powerful signal that your organization is committed to equal access.
FAQs
Why should I make my website accessible?
There are many compelling reasons for prioritizing website accessibility. First, it is required by many U.S. and international laws. A growing number of organizations have faced lawsuits under the ADA, specifically, for maintaining websites that fail to meet established accessibility standards. Second, people with disabilities are an underserved market. Making your website accessible will help you expand your reach and maintain your competitive edge. Third, an accessible website makes it easier and more convenient for everyone to visit and interact with your business.
My website is Section 508 compliant. Do I need to make more changes?
Section 508 and the ADA have slightly different accessibility requirements. Section 508’s technical standards are based on WCAG 2.0, which was released in 2008, while ADA Title II incorporates WCAG 2.1, which was released in 2018. Conforming with WCAG 2.1 is also a best practice for compliance with Title III of the ADA. Because WCAG 2.1 includes several additional success criteria relative to WCAG 2.0, you may need to make additional changes to your website to conform with this standard.
Can I make my website accessible in-house?
Not all organizations have the internal tools and expertise required to conduct a full accessibility audit, including performing functional tests, and make the required fixes. Even if they do, the process takes valuable time and resources from operations. Engaging with a trusted partner will ensure that you have a dedicated team that will inspect every nook and cranny of your website and help you make it more accessible to all users.
