ADA Title III and websites in plain English

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act says businesses open to the public must not discriminate against people with disabilities. The US Department of Justice's position is that this includes what those businesses offer on the web.¹ There is no federal regulation setting a technical standard for private business websites; the DOJ calls WCAG "helpful guidance".¹ In practice WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 AA is the reference that courts and settlements use, as our United States guide explains. Claims are mostly brought by individuals, and the usual result is an order to fix the site plus attorney fees, not a fine. This is general information, not legal advice.

What the law says

The core rule is in 42 U.S.C. § 12182: no individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services and facilities of a place of public accommodation.⁴ Discrimination includes failing to take the steps needed so that people are not excluded or treated differently because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services, unless that would fundamentally change what is offered or be an undue burden.⁴

"Public accommodation" is defined in 12 categories in § 12181, and one of them is "a bakery, grocery store, clothing store, hardware store, shopping center, or other sales or rental establishment."³ ADA.gov describes Title III as covering businesses, including nonprofits, that serve the public, with examples from restaurants and shops to doctors' offices and gyms.²

Where websites come in

The law was passed in 1990 and does not mention websites. The DOJ's March 2022 guidance sets out its position:¹

• Title III's requirements apply to all the goods, services, privileges or activities offered by public accommodations, including those offered on the web.
• Businesses have flexibility in how they comply, but they must comply.
• Existing technical standards provide helpful guidance, naming WCAG and the Section 508 standards the federal government uses for its own websites.

The guidance is not a regulation. ADA.gov notes that its guidance documents are informal and do not create binding obligations beyond the statute, regulations and case law.¹ Courts decide what the statute requires in each case. Our United States guide covers how courts have approached it: they are split on online-only businesses with no physical location, and coverage is clearest where a website is tied to a physical store.

Do not confuse it with the Title II web rule

In April 2024 the DOJ published a rule that does set a technical standard, WCAG 2.1 level AA, but it is under Title II and applies to state and local governments, not private businesses.⁷ An interim final rule published on 20 April 2026 moved its compliance dates to 26 April 2027 for governments serving 50,000 or more people, and 26 April 2028 for smaller ones and special district governments.⁷ If you read that "the ADA now requires WCAG 2.1 AA by 2027", that is the government rule, not one for your store.

What the DOJ says makes a website inaccessible

The guidance lists the barriers it sees and what to do instead:¹

It also recommends a mix of automated and manual checks, and warns that a "clean" report from an automated tool does not necessarily mean everything is accessible.¹ And it suggests giving the public a way to report accessibility problems.¹

How Title III is enforced

Private claims

Anyone who faces discrimination can sue. For private claims, the remedies in the statute are court orders, such as an order to make the site accessible, rather than money damages.⁵ Our United States guide summarises it the same way: court orders and attorney fees, not damages. The court may award the winning side a reasonable attorney's fee, including litigation expenses and costs.⁶ Fees make even a small claim costly, and most claims are settled rather than tried, so the cost to a business is usually legal fees, any settlement and the fixes. If you have received one, read what to do first and speak to a lawyer.

Some state laws add damages on top. California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, for example, treats an ADA violation as a violation of state law; our United States guide has the detail.

The Department of Justice

The Attorney General can investigate and sue where there is a pattern or practice of discrimination or an issue of general public importance. A court can then order changes, award money damages to people harmed when the Attorney General asks, and assess civil penalties, which the statute as written caps at USD 50,000 for a first violation and USD 100,000 for a later one; the court must consider good-faith efforts to comply.⁵ The DOJ's guidance lists past website matters it has resolved, including with Rite Aid, H&R Block, Peapod and Teachers Test Prep.¹

What a small business can do

1. Test against WCAG 2.2 A and AA. It keeps the 2.1 criteria, minus one obsolete one, and adds new ones; see what changed from WCAG 2.1.
2. Fix what stops people buying or contacting you first: checkout, forms, navigation, product pages.
3. Add a way to report problems, and an accessibility statement that is honest about known issues. See what to put in an accessibility statement.
4. Keep a dated record of what you tested and fixed. It does not prevent a claim, but it shows what you did and when.
5. Do not rely on an overlay. Claims are about whether people can use the site; see do accessibility widgets make a website compliant?

Jralo's free check tests your homepage and up to five linked pages against WCAG 2.2 A and AA with axe-core in a real browser. It also reads your terms, privacy and contact pages to work out where your business is based and where your customers are, and says which countries' accessibility laws are likely relevant, with a link to our guide for each. That is a pointer, not legal advice. Paid plans check daily and keep a tamper-evident record, stamped each day by an independent timestamp authority. No tool, badge or audit makes a site ADA compliant, and automated testing finds many problems, not all.