Got an ADA demand letter about your website?

What these letters usually contain, what the ADA says about websites, and practical first steps for store owners: from calling a lawyer to fixing and documenting the site.

Last reviewed

This page is general information, not legal advice. FixRamp is not a law firm. If you received a demand letter or a lawsuit, talk to a lawyer who handles ADA website claims before you respond.

The short answer

  • Don't ignore it. Law firms that defend these claims advise contacting an attorney experienced in website accessibility cases before you reply.
  • A typical letter says your website violates Title III of the ADA, lists barriers such as problems with keyboard navigation or screen readers, and proposes a settlement: fixing the site plus paying the other side's attorney's fees.
  • The ADA has no detailed technical standard for business websites, but the Department of Justice points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as helpful guidance, and settlements usually require a WCAG level by a set date.
  • Fixing the problems matters whatever happens with the claim: it helps your customers, and a dated record of what you fixed gives your lawyer facts to work with.

What an ADA website demand letter usually says

Most website accessibility lawsuits start with a letter. As the law firm Vedder Price describes it, a suit is usually preceded by a demand letter “followed by a settlement proposal that includes the business' agreement to improve” the site's accessibility, along with payment of the plaintiff's attorney's fees and costs. The same article notes that “the vast majority of these cases settle.”

A 2026 overview from the Law Offices of Nolan Klein describes the contents: the letter notifies the business that its website violates Title III of the ADA, lists deficiencies such as keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility or missing video captions, and letters “often impose an arbitrary deadline, threatening formal litigation in federal or state court.”

Some letters are close to copies of each other. Ogletree Deakins has written about “nearly-identical demand letters from remote, unrelated, and unrepresented parties.” That doesn't make a letter safe to ignore, but it's one more reason to have a lawyer read it.

What the ADA says about websites

Title III of the ADA covers businesses open to the public. The Department of Justice's guidance on web accessibility says these businesses “still must ensure that the programs, services, and goods that they provide to the public” are accessible, including online. It also says businesses “have flexibility in how they comply with the ADA's general requirements” and that “existing technical standards provide helpful guidance,” naming WCAG. And it is direct about the gap: “the Department of Justice does not have a regulation setting out detailed standards.”

You may have read about a federal rule that requires WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That 2024 rule is under Title II, and it applies to state and local governments, not to private stores. In April 2026 the Department of Justice pushed its deadlines back by a year, to April 2027 and April 2028 depending on the government's size, and the National Federation of the Blind sued in federal court in Maryland in May 2026 to challenge that delay.

In practice, settlements of website claims usually name a technical standard. A Greenberg Glusker article notes that they “typically require compliance with certain technical standards by a specific date,” and gives the example of WCAG 2.0 Level AA within 24 months.

How common these claims are

The counts differ because each source measures something different, so it's best not to add them together:

  • The law firm Seyfarth Shaw counted 3,117 website accessibility lawsuits filed in federal court in 2025, up 27% from 2024. It also notes that “we still see a significant number of demand letters and lawsuits filed in state courts,” which its federal count does not include.
  • EcomBack, an accessibility company that tracks these suits, counted 2,045 ADA website lawsuits in U.S. courts from January through June 2026 (a count that likely misses some state-court filings), and 952 of them (46.55%) were against Shopify-based sites.
  • UsableNet, another accessibility company, estimates that businesses receive “roughly two to three times as many demand letters as filed lawsuits.” There is no public database of demand letters, so treat that as an estimate.

We have not found reliable public data on how much these letters or lawsuits typically settle for. Figures you see online usually come from vendors without a stated method.

State law can raise the stakes. Under California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, Civil Code section 52(a), a business that violates it is liable “for each and every offense” for damages of “in no case less than four thousand dollars ($4,000),” plus attorney's fees set by the court. Whether the Act applies to your online store, and how offenses are counted, are questions for your lawyer.

What to do in the first 30 days

In the first days: steps 1 and 2. Over the following weeks: steps 3 and 4.

1. Talk to a lawyer before you reply

“If you receive a website accessibility demand letter, do not ignore it,” Vedder Price advises, and “consult an attorney experienced in website accessibility claims.” Note the response deadline in the letter, give your lawyer a copy right away, and let your lawyer handle any reply or contact with the sender. Greenberg Glusker's version is to “stay calm, size up the problem, and call experienced counsel.” Bring the letter and any accessibility audits you already have; the same article suggests gathering “any accessibility compliance audits that have been recently performed.”

2. Check whether your insurance covers it

Ask your broker, but expect coverage to be thin. A review of policy types by Accessibility.Works, an accessibility consultancy, notes that general liability policies “typically exclude claims based on intangible harms,” that “only EPLI policies with third-party coverage include digital accessibility claims,” and that “most cyber policies do not cover accessibility claims.” Policies vary, so ask your broker to check the actual wording, including any endorsements.

3. Get an accurate picture of your site

Your lawyer will want to know whether the barriers in the letter are real and what else is wrong. An automated scan is a fast first step: it finds many common WCAG failures, such as missing alt text, buttons and links with no name, and low color contrast. It does not find everything. Some issues, like whether alt text actually describes the image or whether a screen reader flow makes sense, need a person testing. The Nolan Klein overview recommends a manual audit for that reason, and Vedder Price suggests including a test with screen reader software by a user who is blind or has low vision.

On Shopify, the checkout is hosted and maintained by Shopify, so you can't change its code. Focus on what you control: your theme, product and collection pages, the cart, and the apps you add.

4. Fix the issues, and keep a dated record

Most issues in an online store live in the theme templates, so one fix often covers every page that uses that template. Keep a record of what you found, what you fixed and when, and a re-test showing the result. It's good practice in any case, and it gives your lawyer facts instead of promises.

Fixing the site does not automatically end a claim. Courts look at whether the problems are actually gone and are not expected to come back. In a 2026 case in federal court in New York, reported by Seyfarth Shaw, the judge dismissed a website suit as moot. The store filed a sworn statement describing the “commercially reasonable” steps it had taken to make its site conform to WCAG, and the plaintiff offered no evidence to the contrary. Even so, the dismissal was without prejudice, so the plaintiff could amend the complaint or file a new case in state court. One ruling like this doesn't predict how your case will go, so ask your lawyer how it applies to you.

Does an accessibility widget help?

Many stores that receive these claims already have one. EcomBack found that 496 of its 2,045 counted lawsuits in the first half of 2026 (24.25%) “targeted websites that already had a widget or overlay installed.” In April 2025 the Federal Trade Commission approved a final order requiring accessiBe, a widget maker, to pay USD 1 million over claims that its plug-in could make any website compliant with WCAG.

A widget adds a toolbar and some scripts to the page, but it doesn't fix the underlying theme code, which is where these issues are. Installing one in a hurry is not a substitute for fixing the code, which is what changes the experience for customers using a screen reader or a keyboard.

Where FixRamp fits

FixRamp handles the technical side, not the legal one. A Pro report (USD 599) scans up to 150 pages of your store, including the cart, and gives your developer the failing code and the corrected code for most issues, with Shopify and WooCommerce notes. After the fixes, the included re-scans produce dated reports that show what changed, a record you can hand to your lawyer. Smaller stores can start with a Starter report (USD 249, up to 25 pages).

An automated report is not a legal opinion, a certificate of compliance, or a substitute for manual testing by a person.

Sources