ADA website compliance checklist for small businesses

  • accessibility
  • ada
  • wcag
  • compliance

Updated

The ADA requires businesses open to the public to make their goods and services accessible to people with disabilities, and the Department of Justice says that includes what they offer online. There's no ADA regulation with a technical standard for business websites, so most organizations aim for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. The checklist below covers the problems behind most complaints. This isn't legal advice.

What the law says

  • Businesses open to the public (ADA Title III): the DOJ's 2022 guidance says businesses must make sure their online goods and services are accessible. It doesn't set a technical standard, and points to WCAG and the federal Section 508 standards as helpful guidance. Source: ADA.gov, Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA.
  • State and local governments, including public schools and colleges (ADA Title II): a 2024 DOJ rule requires WCAG 2.1 AA, with compliance dates in 2027 and 2028. See The DOJ's Title II web accessibility rule.

The DOJ's guidance lists common barriers: poor color contrast, color alone to convey information, images without text alternatives, videos without captions, inaccessible forms, and pages that only work with a mouse.

The checklist

Images

  • Every meaningful image has alt text that says what it shows. Decorative images have empty alt text. See How to write alt text for images.
  • No important text exists only inside an image.

Text and structure

  • Each page has one H1, and headings follow in order. See Structure a page with headings.
  • Text contrasts with its background: at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
  • Color isn't the only way information is shown (for example, required fields are marked with text, not just red).
  • Link text says where it goes. "Download the 2026 menu (PDF)", not "Click here".
  • The page still works when zoomed to 200%.

Keyboard

  • You can reach and use every link, button, menu, and form field with the Tab key.
  • You can always see which item has keyboard focus.
  • Pop-ups and menus can be closed with Escape, and focus doesn't get trapped.

Forms

  • Every field has a visible label.
  • Error messages say what's wrong and how to fix it.
  • Any CAPTCHA has an accessible alternative.

Media and motion

  • Videos have accurate captions. Audio has a transcript.
  • Nothing flashes more than three times a second.
  • Video or animation that plays automatically for more than five seconds can be paused.

Documents

  • PDFs people need (menus, forms, reports) are accessible, or the same information is on a web page.

Contact

  • The site says how to get help or report a problem with accessibility.

Test your site

  1. Run an automated check with a free tool such as WAVE or the accessibility section of Google Lighthouse. Automated tools catch only part of the problems.
  2. Use only the keyboard on your home page, a content page, and your contact form.
  3. Zoom to 200% and check nothing overlaps or disappears.
  4. Try a screen reader briefly: VoiceOver on a Mac or iPhone, or NVDA on Windows.

Fix the pages people use most first: home, contact, booking or donation, and your top landing pages.

Accessibility widgets that promise instant compliance don't replace these fixes. See Do accessibility overlays make a website ADA compliant?

If your site runs on Dirigible

  • Accessibility audit, in Dirigible → Tools & Maintenance, checks each page as a visitor sees it against WCAG, can test phone width too, and links to each page to fix. It also flags images with no alt text. See Content gardening tools.
  • Alt text added in the media library fills in for images on your pages that have none, and Dirigible AI can draft alt text for your library. See Generate alt text for the media library.
  • The mobile menu works with the keyboard and closes with Escape, and a Skip to Content link appears for keyboard users.
  • The Mimic heading styles change how a heading looks without breaking the outline.

If you've received a demand letter or complaint, talk to a lawyer first, then have the site audited by someone who tests with assistive technology, because an automated scan alone won't show what the complaint is about. This isn't legal advice.