Do Small Businesses Need ADA-Compliant Websites?

If you run a small business, you may assume that ADA website compliance is only something large corporations need to worry about. Unfortunately, that assumption could be expensive. Small businesses are increasingly the targets of ADA web accessibility lawsuits, and the legal landscape offers no blanket exemption based on company size. Here is what you need to know.

The Short Answer: Yes, Most Likely

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III requires that “places of public accommodation” be accessible to people with disabilities. The law lists 12 categories of public accommodations, including restaurants, retail stores, hotels, theaters, doctors' offices, banks, and many more. There is no minimum employee count, revenue threshold, or business size requirement.

If your small business falls into any of these categories and operates a website — whether for information, e-commerce, appointment booking, or customer communication — courts and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) increasingly expect that website to be accessible. The DOJ confirmed in 2022 guidance that the ADA applies to the web content of businesses that are public accommodations.

For a comprehensive overview of the legal framework, see our ADA Website Compliance Guide.

Lawsuit Trends: Why Small Businesses Are at Risk

ADA web accessibility lawsuits have surged over the past several years. More than 4,000 were filed in federal courts in 2023, and the number continues to grow. While large retailers and Fortune 500 companies were the initial targets, the landscape has shifted dramatically.

Serial plaintiffs and specialized law firms now routinely target small and mid-size businesses. These plaintiffs, often represented by a small number of firms that focus exclusively on ADA digital accessibility cases, file hundreds of lawsuits per year. Their strategy is straightforward: identify websites with obvious accessibility violations (missing alt text, inaccessible forms, poor color contrast), file a lawsuit or send a demand letter, and seek a settlement.

Small businesses are attractive targets for several reasons:

Lower awareness: Many small businesses have never heard of WCAG or do not realize the ADA applies to their website, meaning violations are common and easy to document.
Template websites: Small businesses often use website templates or page builders that are not built with accessibility in mind, creating systematic violations across the entire site.
Quick settlements: Small businesses often prefer to settle for $5,000 to $25,000 rather than spend $10,000 to $50,000+ on legal defense, making them efficient targets.
Volume: There are millions of small business websites, creating an enormous pool of potential defendants.

Industries most commonly targeted among small businesses include e-commerce shops, restaurants with online ordering, medical and dental practices, law firms, real estate agencies, and local service providers with booking functionality.

The Cost of Compliance vs. the Cost of a Lawsuit

One of the biggest misconceptions among small business owners is that web accessibility is prohibitively expensive. In reality, the cost of basic compliance is almost always far less than the cost of defending or settling an ADA lawsuit.

Cost of Compliance

Automated scanning tool: $0–$50/month
Basic remediation (fix common issues): $500–$3,000
Professional accessibility audit: $2,000–$10,000
Ongoing monitoring: $20–$200/month
Total first year: $1,000–$15,000

Cost of a Lawsuit

Legal defense fees: $10,000–$50,000+
Settlement payment: $5,000–$150,000
Remediation (required by settlement): $5,000–$25,000
Staff time and business disruption: significant
Total: $20,000–$225,000+

The math is clear: proactive compliance is dramatically less expensive than reactive litigation. And unlike a lawsuit, the investment in accessibility also improves your website for all users, boosts SEO performance (search engines favor accessible sites), and expands your potential customer base to include the one in four American adults who live with a disability.

Most Common Violations on Small Business Websites

Small business websites tend to have the same recurring accessibility issues. Addressing these common violations will resolve the majority of barriers and significantly reduce your legal risk:

Missing alternative text on images: Every meaningful image needs descriptive alt text so screen reader users understand the content.
Insufficient color contrast: Text must have at least a 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background. Use our color contrast checker to verify.
Missing form labels: Input fields without associated labels are unusable for screen reader users. Every form field needs a programmatically associated label.
Inaccessible navigation: Dropdown menus, hamburger menus, and other navigation patterns must be operable with a keyboard alone.
Empty links and buttons: Interactive elements without text content (such as icon-only buttons) need accessible names via aria-label or visually hidden text.
Missing document language: The HTML lang attribute must be set so screen readers pronounce content correctly.
Video without captions: Any video content on your site must have accurate captions for deaf and hard of hearing users.

Practical Steps for Small Businesses

You do not need a six-figure budget to make your small business website accessible. Here is a practical, affordable approach:

Run a free scan. Start by scanning your website with CompliaScan's free WCAG checker or ADA compliance checker. You will get an instant report showing the issues on your site and how to fix them.
Fix the top violations. Address the most common issues first: add alt text to images, fix color contrast, add form labels, and ensure keyboard navigation works. These fixes alone will resolve the majority of barriers.
Use the WCAG checklist. Work through our WCAG compliance checklist to systematically verify each success criterion relevant to your site.
Publish an accessibility statement. Add a page to your website that states your commitment to accessibility, the standard you target (WCAG 2.2 AA), and how users can contact you with accessibility issues. This demonstrates good faith.
Set up monitoring. Accessibility is ongoing. Every content update or plugin change can introduce new issues. CompliaScan's affordable plans provide continuous monitoring so you catch problems before they become lawsuit fodder.
Talk to your web developer. Share your scan results with whoever builds and maintains your website. Many accessibility fixes are straightforward for a competent developer. Make accessibility part of your ongoing website maintenance.

Choosing an Accessible Website Platform

If you are building or rebuilding your small business website, the platform you choose matters. Some website builders and CMS platforms are more accessible out of the box than others.

When evaluating platforms, look for: semantic HTML output, accessible default themes, keyboard-navigable admin and front-end interfaces, built-in alt text fields for images, proper heading structure in templates, and accessible form components. No platform guarantees WCAG 2.2 compliance out of the box — you still need to create accessible content, add alt text, use proper headings, and test the result — but starting with a good foundation makes the job much easier.

Be cautious with third-party plugins, widgets, and embedded content. These are common sources of accessibility violations on small business sites. Every widget you add to your site (chat widgets, booking calendars, social media feeds, review widgets) needs to be accessible. If it is not, it can introduce barriers that you are responsible for.

The Business Case Beyond Legal Risk

While avoiding lawsuits is a compelling reason to invest in accessibility, it is far from the only one. Making your website accessible is good business:

Expanded market: Over 61 million adults in the U.S. live with a disability. Their combined disposable income exceeds $490 billion. Accessible websites reach customers that competitors miss.
Better SEO: Accessibility improvements — proper headings, alt text, semantic HTML, descriptive link text — are also SEO best practices. Search engines reward accessible content.
Improved usability for everyone: Accessibility improvements benefit all users, not just those with disabilities. Captions help people in noisy environments. Good contrast helps people using phones in sunlight. Keyboard navigation helps power users.
Brand reputation: Demonstrating commitment to accessibility builds trust and loyalty, particularly among disability communities and their allies.

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