Website Accessibility & ADA Compliance

Website accessibility means building your site so people with disabilities can actually use it: someone using a screen reader, someone who can’t use a mouse, someone with low vision or colour blindness. Around one in four US adults lives with a disability, so this is not a small audience. Get it right and they can read, navigate, and buy from you. Get it wrong and you’re quietly turning them away, and increasingly, risking a lawsuit for it.

This is the plain-English guide to what website accessibility is, what ADA compliance actually requires, and how to close the gaps.

One note before we start: this is practical guidance, not legal advice. If you’re dealing with a specific complaint, talk to a lawyer.

What website accessibility actually means

Accessibility is measured against the WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the W3C. WCAG is the standard nearly everyone points to, including courts. Its current versions are 2.1 and 2.2, and it defines three conformance levels: A, AA, and AAA. AA is the practical target almost everyone aims for.

WCAG is built on four principles, easy to remember as POUR. Your site should be:

Perceivable: people can perceive the content (text alternatives for images, captions, enough colour contrast).
Operable: people can operate it (full keyboard access, no traps, enough time to act).
Understandable: content and controls behave predictably and are readable.
Robust: it works with assistive technology like screen readers.

Why website accessibility matters

Three reasons, and they stack.

The human one: a large share of people live with a disability. Excluding them is not a rounding error, it’s a real part of your audience who can’t use your site.

The legal one: in the US, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been applied to websites, and Section 508 covers federal-related sites. Other regions have their own rules, including the European Accessibility Act, Canada’s AODA, and the UK’s Equality Act. There is no separate ADA website standard written into law, so courts and settlements lean on WCAG 2.1 AA as the yardstick. Accessibility lawsuits and demand letters have become common, and small businesses are not exempt.

The business one: accessible sites tend to be better sites. Clean headings, alt text, strong contrast, and keyboard support also help SEO, mobile users, and anyone in bright sunlight or a hurry.

What “ADA compliance” actually requires

This trips people up, so plainly: the ADA itself does not publish a technical web standard. In practice, WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the benchmark used in settlements, Department of Justice guidance, and expert testimony. If your site meets WCAG 2.1 AA, you’re in a strong position. If it doesn’t, that’s where the risk sits.

So “make my site ADA compliant” and “meet WCAG 2.1 AA” are, for practical purposes, the same job.

The most common accessibility barriers

Most failures are the same handful of issues, over and over:

Images without alt text, so screen readers announce nothing useful.
Low colour contrast between text and background.
Forms without labels, so a screen reader user can’t tell what a field wants.
No keyboard access: menus, sliders, or pop-ups that only work with a mouse.
Poor heading structure, so the page has no navigable outline.
Missing focus indicators, so keyboard users can’t see where they are.
Video without captions or transcripts.

None of these are exotic, and most are fixable without rebuilding anything. Our website accessibility checklist walks through each one.

How to make your website accessible

The honest short version: audit, fix, and maintain.

Audit against WCAG 2.1 AA to find what’s failing. Automated checkers catch a share of issues (contrast, missing alt text, some structure), but a meaningful part of WCAG can only be verified by a human actually using the site with a keyboard and a screen reader. Treat an automated score as a starting point, not a pass.

Fix the barriers in priority order: the things that block people entirely (keyboard traps, unlabelled forms, missing alt text on meaningful images) come first. Our guide on how to make your website accessible covers the fixes step by step.

Maintain it. Accessibility is not a one-time project. Every new page, plugin, and design change can introduce fresh barriers, which is why it fits an ongoing maintenance arrangement better than a single audit. If you’re on WordPress, some plugins genuinely help and many don’t; our guide to the best WordPress accessibility plugins sorts the useful from the harmful.

A warning about accessibility overlays

You’ve probably seen the widgets that promise “instant ADA compliance” from one line of code. Be sceptical. Accessibility overlays and toolbars don’t make a site compliant, they can interfere with the assistive tech people already use, and a notable share of accessibility lawsuits have named sites that were running one. There is no one-click fix. Real accessibility lives in the site itself.

How WP Relieve helps

Accessibility is exactly the kind of ongoing work a subscription team is built for: an initial pass to fix the barriers, then keeping the site compliant as it changes. WP Relieve handles accessibility fixes as part of website development and support, on a flat monthly fee. Start with a free website review to see where you stand, or see plans and pricing.

Frequently asked questions

What is website accessibility?

Website accessibility is designing and building a website so people with disabilities can use it, including those who rely on screen readers, navigate by keyboard, or have low vision. It’s measured against the WCAG standard, with Level AA the common target.

Is my website legally required to be ADA compliant?

In the US, the ADA has been applied to many private business websites, and accessibility lawsuits are common. There is no official ADA web standard, so WCAG 2.1 AA is used as the practical benchmark. This isn’t legal advice; check with a lawyer about your specific situation.

How do I check if my website is accessible?

Start with an automated checker for issues like contrast and missing alt text, then do manual testing with a keyboard and a screen reader, since automated tools only catch part of WCAG. A professional audit against WCAG 2.1 AA gives you the full picture.

Do accessibility overlay plugins make my site compliant?

No. One-line overlay widgets don’t achieve compliance and can interfere with assistive technology. Many accessibility lawsuits have targeted sites using them. Real accessibility comes from fixing the site itself.

What is WCAG?

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the internationally recognised standard for web accessibility, published by the W3C. It’s organised around four principles (perceivable, operable, understandable, robust) and three levels (A, AA, AAA). AA is the level most sites aim for.

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