5 Accessibility Mistakes That Could Get Your Website Sued

The Lawsuits Are Real — and Growing

In 2023, over 4,000 ADA-related web accessibility lawsuits were filed in the United States. That number has been climbing steadily since 2018. The targets aren't just Fortune 500 companies — small businesses, local restaurants, e-commerce stores, and service providers are getting hit with demand letters and lawsuits that cost anywhere from $5,000 to $150,000 to settle.

The frustrating part? Most of these lawsuits target issues that are straightforward to fix. If you're unfamiliar with the standard behind these rules, start with our Small Business Owner's Guide to WCAG 2.1. Otherwise, here are the five most common mistakes that put websites in legal crosshairs.

1. Missing Alt Text on Images

This is the single most common accessibility violation on the web, and it's the easiest to fix. Every image on your website needs descriptive alt text so screen readers can convey the content to visually impaired users. This falls under WCAG Success Criterion 1.1.1.

A product image labeled IMG_3847.jpg tells a blind user nothing. An image with alt="Navy blue wool sweater with crew neck, front view" tells them exactly what they're looking at.

The fix: Go through every image on your site. If the image conveys information, add a short, descriptive alt attribute. If it's purely decorative (a background pattern, a divider line), use an empty alt attribute (alt="") so screen readers skip it entirely. On WordPress? We have a step-by-step guide to fixing WordPress accessibility issues.

2. Poor Color Contrast

Light gray text on a white background might look sleek, but it's unreadable for the 300 million people worldwide with color vision deficiency and the millions more with low vision. WCAG 2.1 requires a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.

This violation shows up constantly in navigation menus, placeholder text in forms, footer links, and "disabled" button states that aren't actually disabled.

The fix: Test your text colors against their backgrounds. WebAIM's contrast checker can tell you instantly if a color combination passes. When in doubt, go darker. Your designer might push back, but readability isn't optional — it's a legal requirement.

3. Forms Without Labels

When a sighted user sees a text field under the word "Email," they know what to type. A screen reader user navigating by form fields hears... nothing. Or they hear "edit text" with no context. This happens when forms use placeholder text as the only indicator or when labels aren't programmatically associated with their inputs.

This is especially dangerous on checkout pages, contact forms, and login screens — the exact places where you want every user to convert. Shopify store owners should check our Shopify accessibility guide for platform-specific instructions.

The fix: Every form field needs a visible <label> element connected to the input via the for attribute. Placeholder text is a hint, not a replacement for a label. If your CMS or form builder doesn't add labels automatically, switch to one that does.

4. Keyboard Navigation Traps

Many users navigate websites using only a keyboard — no mouse. This includes people with motor disabilities, power users, and anyone using assistive technology. If your website has elements that capture keyboard focus and won't let go (modal dialogs that can't be closed with Escape, dropdown menus that can't be tabbed through, carousels that swallow focus), you have a keyboard trap.

Keyboard traps are especially common in third-party widgets: chat bubbles, cookie consent banners, pop-up offers, and embedded video players.

The fix: Tab through your entire website using only your keyboard. Can you reach every link, button, and form field? Can you always get back? Can you close every overlay with the Escape key? If you get stuck anywhere, that's a trap that needs fixing.

5. Missing Page Titles and Heading Structure

Every page needs a unique, descriptive <title> tag. "Home" or "Untitled" doesn't count. Screen reader users rely on page titles to know where they are. They also rely on a logical heading hierarchy (one H1, followed by H2s for sections, H3s for subsections) to navigate the page quickly.

When headings are chosen for visual size rather than document structure — skipping from H1 to H4, or using H3 for everything because it "looks right" — the page becomes a maze for assistive technology.

The fix: Treat headings like an outline. Each page gets one H1 (usually the page title). Major sections get H2s. Subsections within those get H3s. Never skip a level. Adjust visual size with CSS, not heading tags.

What Happens When You Get a Demand Letter

Most ADA web accessibility cases don't go to trial. A law firm sends a demand letter alleging your website violates the ADA, includes a list of specific issues (often pulled from an automated scan), and offers to settle for $5,000 to $25,000. If you ignore it, it escalates. If you settle, you still need to fix the issues — plus you're on their radar for a follow-up audit.

The math is simple: fixing accessibility proactively costs a fraction of what settling a lawsuit does. And unlike a settlement, the fix actually benefits your users and your business.

What Doesn't Work: Accessibility Overlays

You might be tempted by "one-line JavaScript" solutions that promise instant compliance. Don't. Accessibility overlays don't work — courts have rejected them, and over 1,000 overlay users have been sued. There are no shortcuts to real compliance.

Take Action Before Someone Else Does

The five issues above account for the majority of accessibility violations found in ADA lawsuits. None of them require a complete website redesign. Most can be fixed in a day or two.

The first step is knowing where you stand. Run a scan, see what's broken, and start fixing the critical issues first. Your future self (and your legal budget) will thank you.