How To Make Your Site ADA Compliant

Is your eCommerce website ADA compliant? Here’s why compliance matters and how to make your online store ADA compliant.

By Gentian Shero

You might be asking yourself: “Does my website need to be ADA compliant?

The answer is yes. Not just because you can avoid potential lawsuits for having a non-compliant site, but also because you want to ensure your business is providing the best customer experience possible.

Compared to brick and mortar stores, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations for eCommerce stores are relatively lax.

For instance, you don’t need a certain number of fire exits or sprinkler heads. You don’t need designated parking spaces, wheelchair ramps, or bathroom stalls designed specifically for people with disabilities.

Though eCommerce doesn’t have any of those issues, ADA accessibility is still an issue you shouldn’t ignore.

In this post, we’ll discuss how you can ensure your online store is set up to provide an excellent customer experience for shoppers of various abilities.

What is ADA Accessibility and Who Does It Serve?

The ADA defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.”

Accessibility for online shoppers can include tactics to assist with vision impairment, blindness, reading difficulty or dyslexia, being hard of hearing, or any disability that prevents the use of a traditional keyboard or mouse.

By taking extra steps to accommodate these needs, more people can navigate the internet. Some of the most common accessibility options, like screen readers or special speakers, work by “reading” the website out loud.

In order for these tools to work properly, certain guidelines must be followed when creating and maintaining an online store. A website’s ADA-compliant accessibility is determined by how well it complies with those guidelines.

Why Does ADA Accessibility Matter?

Here’s why you want to make sure your eCommerce store is ADA Compliant.

1. Prepares you for the future

In the US, ADA regulations for brick and mortar stores are very clear, but the law hasn’t quite caught up to technology. Whether eCommerce retailers should be held to the same accessibility standards is a hotly contested topic.

Since 2003, the Department of Justice has been making strides to formally apply ADA regulations to internet businesses, and it does seem to be a matter of when, not if, those laws will take effect. Ensuring accessibility now will prepare you for the inevitable.

While Federal law may still be ambiguous, civil law has been pretty clear on this matter. Many companies have already faced a lawsuit or fine for having a non-compliant eCommerce store or website, including Target, Domino’s Pizza, Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, Ace Hardware, Panera Bread, Bank of America, Brooks Brothers, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and AMC Theatres

In one of the more publicized claims, Target Corporation faced a huge lawsuit and litigation brought by the National Federation of the Blind in 2008. Target paid $6 million to settle the class-action suit and nearly $4 million more to cover the plaintiffs’ attorney fees and other costs. While this type of payout isn’t common, it does set a very pricey standard.

3. Increases your potential customer pool

The disabled community is an underserved demographic. Making sure your site is compliant can give you a competitive edge, in more ways than one. It’s just common sense: If someone can’t access your website, they can’t buy your products. You could have fantastic marketing, stellar SEO, killer products, and superb customer service, but if your website isn’t ADA compliant, you could be leaving money on the table.

Compliance can even improve your organic search results. Many search engines rely on the same elements accessibility tools use; after all, search engine bots and spiders can’t see images or hear audio content. Optimizing your site for ADA accessibility has the added benefit of optimizing your site for search engines.

What are the ADA Compliance Success Criteria?

The official Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is currently at version 2.1. It’s the standard guide to making web content more accessible to people with disabilities.

These guidelines also make Web content more usable by older individuals with changing abilities due to aging and often improve usability for users in general.

According to the WCAG, websites must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.

For each guideline to be determined suitable, success criteria must be met. In order to meet the needs of different groups and different situations, three levels of conformance are defined: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest).

The following Success Criteria are new in WCAG 2.1:

What Are Some ADA Accessibility Failures?

Any number of traits could cause a failure for an ADA Web Accessibility check. Here are just a few of the most common issues:

  • Improper text size
  • Missing alt text in images
  • Missing labels for input text types
  • Anchor links with no text
  • Incorrect H1 or header tag placement
  • Images with low-contrast text
    • Example: Grey text on a black background
  • Incompatible line length and legibility
  • Forms with improper tab ordering
  • Vague wording for code, copy, and errors
    • Example: “Enter your info to sign up” vs. “Enter your first, last name, and email to sign up”
  • The main navigation isn’t streamlined for easy access

How Can You Review Your Own Site?

The first step in making your website accessible to all is by assessing the current state of your website.

We suggest checking your site against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. Level AA. Maintaining the highest level of compliance—WCAG 2.0 Level AAA—can have a significant impact on the cost and user experience of your website. Level AA guidelines offer a good middle ground between ADA compliance and general user experience; it’s widely considered to be the most practical and reasonable level of compliance for private retailers.

Costs & Incentives

US companies can take advantage of government incentives for making your site ADA compliant. Qualifying businesses (online and offline) may claim a one-time tax credit to cover up to 50% of eligible costs.

These tax credits apply to expenses between $250 and $10,250, and cover costs like interpreters, acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, and other auxiliary aids.

The average cost to make a small or medium-sized eCommerce store ADA accessible ranges between $27,000 and $50,000, depending on the size of the website. Becoming compliant will take an investment, but remember, that’s truly what it is—an investment.

Eventually, reaching and maintaining compliance won’t be an option. Getting compliant now will pay off and save you the headache of rushing a compliance project down the road, and could save you a very expensive lawsuit in the meantime.

Need an ADA Audit?

Reach out and our team can determine if your site is ADA compliant. Our audits provide you with the information you need to resolve ADA violations.

Chief Strategy Officer at

Gentian, CSO and co-founder of Shero Commerce, guides the company and client digital strategies. He's an expert in technical SEO, Inbound Marketing, and eCommerce strategy.