The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), enacted in 1990, is a pivotal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. While initially focused on physical spaces, the ADA’s scope has evolved to encompass digital environments, mandating that websites and mobile applications be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
1. What is ADA Compliance?
ADA compliance refers to adhering to the standards set forth by the ADA to ensure that digital content is accessible to all users, regardless of their disabilities. This involves aligning with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which outline specific criteria to make web content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for users with diverse abilities. As of 2025, WCAG 2.2 is the prevailing standard, providing updated guidance on creating inclusive digital experiences.
2. How Essential is ADA Compliance?
Ensuring ADA compliance is both a legal obligation and a moral imperative. Approximately 25% of U.S. adults live with a disability, highlighting the necessity for accessible digital content. Beyond legal considerations, accessible websites enhance user experience, broaden audience reach, and improve engagement metrics, benefiting businesses through increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Impact on Businesses and Recent Legal Developments
Non-compliance with ADA standards can lead to significant legal repercussions for businesses. The number of ADA-related lawsuits concerning web accessibility has been on the rise, with thousands of cases filed annually. Notably, in October 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of Domino’s Pizza, effectively upholding a lower court’s decision that the company’s website and app must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. This case underscored the judiciary’s stance on digital accessibility under the ADA.
In March 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice removed 11 ADA-related guidelines from its website, including those addressing COVID-19 protocols and accessibility requirements for businesses. The department labeled these guidelines as “unnecessary and outdated,” suggesting that their removal could reduce compliance-related confusion and help businesses lower costs for consumers. However, this decision has sparked concerns among disability advocates regarding the long-term commitment to accessibility.
4. Compliance is Good Business
Beyond avoiding legal risks, ADA compliance is a smart business move. A more accessible website can improve your site’s usability for all visitors, not just those with disabilities. Accessibility best practices, such as clear navigation, structured content, and optimized images, align closely with search engine optimization (SEO) principles.
How ADA Compliance Helps SEO:
- Better User Experience: Search engines favor websites that provide a seamless user experience, including clear headings, readable fonts, and properly labeled images.
- Improved Site Ranking: Google and other search engines consider accessibility signals, such as proper alt text, page structure, and mobile-friendliness, when ranking websites.
- Increased Traffic & Engagement: Making your website more inclusive means reaching a wider audience, including people using assistive technologies, voice search, and various devices.
- Reduced Bounce Rates: Websites with clear, accessible design tend to keep visitors engaged longer, reducing bounce rates and improving conversions.
Investing in accessibility is an investment in your business’s digital success. A compliant website is easier to navigate, performs better in search rankings, and ensures a positive experience for all users.
“In recent years, we’ve seen many of the best practices of accessibility become crucial SEO ranking factors. Content with clear interactive controls performs better than content with small, hard-to-press buttons or unlabeled forms. Websites with appropriate semantic HTML will have an advantage in search rankings, while content with poor semantics will struggle to attract readers.”
Source: BOIA: How Much Does Google Care About Accessibility?
5. Challenges of Implementing ADA Compliance on Existing Websites
Integrating ADA compliance into existing websites can present challenges, particularly for businesses unfamiliar with accessibility standards. The process may involve:
- Conducting Accessibility Audits: Evaluating current website content and structure to identify accessibility barriers.
- Implementing Technical Modifications: Making necessary changes, such as adding alternative text for images, ensuring keyboard navigability, and providing transcripts for multimedia content.
- Ongoing Maintenance: Regularly updating content and features to maintain compliance with evolving standards.
While these tasks can be resource-intensive, achieving ADA compliance is crucial for legal protection and fostering an inclusive digital environment. Businesses are encouraged to consult with web accessibility experts or utilize automated tools to facilitate the remediation process.
6. What You Can Do Right Now, No Developer Needed
The caption for this image is “A screenshot of the WordPress media library showing how to add alt text to an image. The ‘Alternative Text’ field is highlighted in red, demonstrating where users can enter a description to improve accessibility.”
WordPress website owners can get started improving their compliance and accessibility right now—no developer needed.
One simple step: Make sure all of your images have alt text.
What is alt text? Alt text (alternative text) is a brief, descriptive text assigned to an image that helps visually impaired users understand the image content through screen readers. It also improves SEO and enhances the user experience for all visitors.
How to update alt text in WordPress:
- Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Media > Library.
- Click on an image to open its details.
- In the Alt Text field, enter a concise, meaningful description of the image.
- Click Update to save your changes.
- Repeat for all images.
Using ChatGPT to Generate Alt Text: If you’re unsure how to describe an image, you can upload the image to ChatGPT and let the AI generate high-quality alt text for you. This will provide a precise, accessible description of the image that meets ADA compliance standards. Simply upload the image and request:
“Generate a detailed alt text description for this image that is useful for visually impaired users.”
This one step can move your site much closer to compliance.
A Real-World Example: SCLawReview.org
One of our recent projects, SCLawReview.org, is a great example of how ADA compliance can be successfully implemented. The University of South Carolina required a high level of accessibility for their online law journal, ensuring all users, including those with disabilities, could easily navigate and engage with the content. We worked diligently to meet the strictest compliance standards, integrating best practices in web accessibility to enhance usability, readability, and functionality.
Need Full Compliance? We Can Help.
If you’re looking for full compliance, chances are that you’ll need our help. Contact us today to see how we can move your site to full compliance.