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Does Your Small Business Website Need to Be ADA Compliant?

If your business is open to the public, you should treat website accessibility as an ADA issue. The Department of Justice says the ADA covers goods and services that such businesses offer online, although it has not set a detailed technical standard for private businesses. WCAG is the practical benchmark to work toward, and fixing the most common errors is a realistic place to start.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Talk to an attorney about your specific situation.

What does the law actually say?

The Department of Justice’s guidance explains that Title III of the ADA covers businesses open to the public, which it calls public accommodations. In its words, “Title III prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by businesses open to the public.” DOJ states that it has long held this covers goods and services offered online.

Two details matter:

That guidance dates from March 2022, and it was the current page when we checked. Rules for state and local governments are separate. A lawyer should review your exposure, particularly if you receive a complaint.

What is WCAG, and which version should you use?

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the W3C. Its success criteria are grouped into levels A, AA and AAA. We recommend Level AA as the target. The healthcare rule covered in our guide for medical websites, for example, adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

The latest version is WCAG 2.2, which adds nine success criteria beyond version 2.1. The W3C encourages using the latest version, and content that meets 2.2 also meets 2.1 and 2.0. If you are building or redesigning today, we recommend aiming at WCAG 2.2 AA.

How accessible is the average website?

Not very, and it recently got worse. The WebAIM Million tested the top one million home pages in February 2026 and found detectable WCAG failures on 95.9% of them, up from 94.8% in 2025. Pages averaged 56.1 errors, up from 51.

So if your site has problems, you have plenty of company. That is not a defense, but it does tell you where the easy wins are. Six categories made up 96% of all detected errors:

Problem Share of home pages What to do
Low-contrast text 83.9% Fix color choices in your design system or theme
Missing image alt text 53.1% Describe meaningful images; leave decorative ones empty
Missing form labels 51% Give each field a real, connected label
Empty links 46.3% Give icon links a text name
Empty buttons 30.6% Give icon buttons a text name
Missing document language 13.5% Set the language in your page code

WordPress sites were close to the middle: 52.8 average errors across 252,302 home pages, 5.8% below the average for the sample. The theme, plugins and content choices matter more than the platform’s logo.

Will an accessibility widget make you compliant?

We would not rely on one. In 2025, the FTC finalized an order requiring accessiBe to pay $1 million. The agency alleged that the company’s claims that its accessWidget product could make any site WCAG-compliant were false, misleading or unsubstantiated. The order bars those claims unless the company has evidence to support them.

That is one company’s case, so don’t read it as a verdict on every tool. Still, it should make you ask a seller for evidence. Also keep the limits of automation in mind: WebAIM itself says “Absence of detected errors does not indicate” that a page is accessible or conformant. A scan finds a share of the issues, and a human still has to use the site.

Also be careful with ARIA, the code attributes used to describe interface elements to assistive technology. WebAIM found that pages using ARIA averaged 59.1 errors, compared with 42 without it. That does not prove ARIA causes errors, since those pages may simply be more complex. But adding more of it is not a fix by itself.

Where should a small business begin?

Here is the order we recommend.

1. Run a free automated scan

Use WAVE or a similar tool on your home page, top service pages, contact page and any checkout or booking flow. Fix what is clearly wrong.

2. Test with a keyboard

Unplug your mouse. Can you reach every link, menu and form using Tab? Can you see where you are? Can you close pop-ups? This takes minutes and often reveals serious problems.

3. Fix your templates first

Contrast, headings and menus live in your theme. One fix at the template level can repair hundreds of pages.

4. Check your key journeys

Pick the tasks that matter most, such as booking, buying or requesting a quote, and walk them through with zoom and a screen reader. Consider paying people who use assistive technology to test them.

5. Look beyond your own code

Booking widgets, chat tools, PDFs and embedded maps can all introduce barriers. Ask your vendors for their accessibility documentation.

6. Make it part of your process

Train the people who publish content to add alt text and use proper headings. Add an accessibility statement with a way for people to report problems, and respond when they do.

Is accessibility only a legal issue?

No. People with disabilities are customers. Many of these fixes also help others, such as anyone reading a phone in bright sun, which is one reason low contrast is worth fixing regardless of the law. Clear headings and good alt text also make pages easier for machines to interpret, although we would not promise a ranking gain from them.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get sued even if I’m a small business?

We cannot assess your risk, and business size alone is not a safe assumption. An attorney can advise you, especially if you receive a demand letter. Do not ignore one.

Is there an official ADA website certification?

We did not find one in the DOJ guidance, which does not set detailed standards for private businesses. Be wary of a badge presented as proof of legal compliance.

How long does remediation take?

It depends on your site’s size and how it was built. Fixing templates early usually saves time, and a new build is the cheapest moment to get it right.

Do PDFs need to be accessible too?

If customers rely on them, they should be, in our view. Where you can, publish the key information as a regular web page.

Want to know where your site stands?

JONTI Code Design builds WordPress sites in San José, Costa Rica, for clients mainly in the United States, including health professionals. We work in English and Spanish in GMT-6. If you would like help finding and fixing accessibility barriers, email info@jonti.co.cr.

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