The ADA and your website, in plain English

This guide explains what the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) means for a website, without the legal jargon. It is not legal advice. Last updated Sept 28, 2026.

What the ADA is

The ADA is a U.S. law from 1990. It says people with disabilities must not be shut out of public life. Most people know it for ramps and wide doors. The same idea applies online: a website should not have "steps" that stop someone from getting in.

Who a website needs to work for

• People who are blind and use a screen reader, which reads the page out loud.
• People with low vision who zoom in a lot or need strong contrast.
• People who are deaf or hard of hearing and need captions on videos.
• People who can't use a mouse and move around with a keyboard or their voice.
• People who need clear, simple steps and enough time to finish a form.

About one in four adults in the U.S. has a disability. A site that works for them is usually easier for everyone else too.

State and local governments: there is now a clear rule

In 2024 the U.S. Department of Justice made a rule for state and local governments. That includes cities, counties, public schools and colleges, courts, libraries, police, transit and public hospitals. Their websites, documents such as PDFs, and mobile apps must meet a standard called WCAG 2.1, level AA.

In April 2026 the deadlines were pushed back by one year:

• April 26, 2027 for places with 50,000 people or more.
• April 26, 2028 for places with fewer than 50,000 people, and for special districts such as water or school districts.

The rule also covers content that a company makes for a government, like a payment page or a parking app. Some old content gets an exception, for example archived pages nobody uses anymore and documents that were already posted before the deadline. But if a person with a disability asks for that content, the government still has to give it to them in a way they can use.

Businesses: the law applies, but there is no set checklist

Businesses open to the public, like shops, restaurants, doctors and hotels, are covered by the ADA too. The Department of Justice has said their websites need to be accessible. It has not picked one technical standard for businesses, so most businesses, courts and lawyers use WCAG 2.1, level AA as the measuring stick.

Thousands of website accessibility lawsuits are filed every year, many against small businesses. Fixing the common problems early is cheaper and kinder than fixing them after a demand letter.

What "WCAG 2.1, level AA" means

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It is a list of rules written by the World Wide Web Consortium, the group that sets standards for the web. Each rule has a level:

• Level A is the bare minimum.
• Level AA adds the next set of rules. This is the level the ADA rule asks for.
• Level AAA is the strictest. Nobody is required to meet all of it.

Our WCAG checklist in plain English explains the level A and AA rules in everyday words.

The problems we see most

• Pictures with no description, so a screen reader says nothing useful.
• Light gray text that is hard to read.
• Form boxes with no label, so people don't know what to type.
• Menus and buttons that only work with a mouse.
• No visible outline showing where the keyboard is.
• Videos with no captions.
• PDFs that are just scanned pictures of paper.

Do accessibility widgets fix this?

No. A widget is the little button that adds contrast and text size options to a page. It doesn't fix the page underneath: missing picture descriptions, broken forms and mouse-only menus are still there. Many people with disabilities already have these tools built into their own devices. A widget can't replace fixing the site itself.

Where to start

1. Check your most-used pages first: the home page, contact page, forms, and anything people pay for or sign up for. Check a page with ADA Gap.
2. Fix the gaps the report finds, or send the report to whoever built your site.
3. Try your site with only a keyboard. Press Tab to move and Enter to click. You should always see where you are, and reach everything.
4. Check your PDFs, or put the same information on a normal web page instead.
5. Add an accessibility page that tells people how to reach you if something doesn't work for them.

Read the official sources

• Fact sheet on the rule for state and local governments (ADA.gov)
• Guidance on web accessibility and the ADA (ADA.gov)
• WCAG 2.1 (W3C)