In 2025, over 4,600 federal ADA website accessibility lawsuits were filed — a record, and a 14% increase over 2024. Serial plaintiffs and plaintiff law firms have developed highly efficient processes for identifying non-compliant sites, and no business is too small to be targeted. E-commerce stores, restaurants, healthcare providers, hotels, and professional services firms are all common targets.

The DOJ finalized its Title II rule in 2024 confirming that websites must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. Title III (private businesses) remains enforced through the courts and has produced the wave of litigation we're seeing. Here's what you need to know to assess and protect your risk.

What Is WCAG 2.1 AA and Why Does It Matter?

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA is the internationally recognized standard for web accessibility. Meeting it ensures your site is usable by people with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive disabilities. The four core principles are:

  • Perceivable: Information is presentable in ways users can perceive (alt text, captions, sufficient contrast)
  • Operable: UI components are operable (keyboard navigable, no seizure-inducing content, skip navigation)
  • Understandable: Content and interfaces are understandable (consistent navigation, error identification, readable language)
  • Robust: Content can be interpreted by assistive technologies (valid HTML, ARIA roles)

Most Common Violations That Trigger Lawsuits

Accessibility audit firms have identified the violations most commonly cited in ADA website lawsuits:

  • Missing or inadequate image alt text
  • Forms without proper labels (linked via for/id or aria-label)
  • Insufficient color contrast (WCAG requires 4.5:1 ratio for normal text)
  • Missing keyboard focus indicators (no visible focus outline)
  • Videos without captions or transcripts
  • PDFs that are not screen reader accessible
  • Missing page language declaration (lang="en" on the <html> element)
  • Skip navigation links not present
"The irony of ADA website lawsuits is that the most commonly cited violations are often the easiest to fix — alt text, labels, and contrast can usually be remediated in days, not months."

How to Audit Your Site for Accessibility

Use a layered audit approach — automated tools catch approximately 30–40% of issues; the rest require manual testing:

Automated tools (free):

  • axe DevTools (Chrome extension) — best automated scanner, detailed issue reports
  • WAVE (WebAIM) — visual overlay of issues, great for quick scans
  • Lighthouse (built into Chrome DevTools) — accessibility score + actionable findings
  • Google Search Console — core web vitals and mobile usability issues that overlap with accessibility

Quick test right now: Open your site in Chrome, press Tab repeatedly without clicking, and see if you can navigate every interactive element (menus, buttons, forms) using only the keyboard. If you can't, you have a Level A violation.

Manual testing checklist:

  • Tab through every page — focus must be visible on every element
  • Turn on a screen reader (VoiceOver on Mac, NVDA on Windows — both free) and navigate
  • Check all images have meaningful alt text (not just empty or "image123.jpg")
  • Verify all form fields have visible, programmatically associated labels
  • Test color contrast ratios using the Colour Contrast Analyser
  • Confirm videos have captions

Remediation: Prioritize by Risk Level

Fix in this order:

  1. Critical (Level A): Missing alt text, unlabeled form fields, keyboard traps — fix first
  2. High (Level AA): Insufficient contrast, missing captions, focus indicators, skip nav
  3. Medium: Complex ARIA patterns, reading order issues, error identification
  4. Low: WCAG 2.2 additions (focus appearance, dragging alternatives)

Ongoing Monitoring

Accessibility is not a one-time fix. New content, theme updates, and plugin changes can introduce new violations. Set up monthly automated scans (axe Monitor, Deque) and include accessibility checks in your deployment process. Training your content team on accessible image alt text and document creation is often the highest-leverage long-term investment.

Want a full ADA compliance audit? Contact our accessibility team — we provide WCAG 2.1 AA audits, remediation, and ongoing monitoring.