ADA website lawsuits: what U.S. boards need to know.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Ask your counsel how these rules apply to your organization.

An inaccessible website shuts out clients who use screen readers, keyboards or magnification. In the United States it is also a growing legal exposure.

The numbers

The federal count comes from the law firm Seyfarth Shaw, which tracks filings every year. New York, Florida and Illinois saw the most cases. Seyfarth notes that state-court cases are not included in its count, and that many plaintiffs now file in New York and New Jersey state courts, so the real total is higher. The first-half figure comes from UsableNet, which also reported that 36% of companies sued in 2025 had annual revenue above $25 million. The final figure is from WebAIM's 2026 analysis of one million home pages.

The standard

For state and local governments, public colleges and other public entities, the Department of Justice has adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the required standard under ADA Title II. In April 2026 the compliance dates were extended to April 26, 2027 for larger entities and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones. Private businesses fall under Title III, where there is no equivalent rule, but WCAG AA is the benchmark most commonly used. Sovren builds to WCAG 2.2 AA, the current version.

Five questions for your next leadership meeting

1. When was our website last audited for accessibility, and by whom? Automated scans find only part of the problems; a manual audit with assistive technology finds the rest.
2. Do we publish an accessibility statement with a way for visitors to report barriers?
3. Are accessibility requirements written into our contracts with the agencies and vendors who build and edit the site?
4. Do our editors know how to keep new content accessible, including documents, videos and images?
5. Are we relying on an overlay widget instead of fixing the underlying code? Overlays do not make a site conform on their own.

Why it is also good business

Accessibility work makes websites clearer, faster and easier to use for everyone, including clients on phones, in bright light or in a hurry. The firms that treat it as quality, not compliance, get both benefits.