Got an ADA website demand letter? What to do first

This is general information, not legal advice. Every letter and every jurisdiction is different.

What the letter usually is

A website accessibility demand letter says your site has barriers for disabled users, usually citing the Americans with Disabilities Act and often a state law such as California's Unruh Act, which allows statutory damages of at least USD 4,000 per violation. It typically asks for fixes, an ongoing commitment and a payment.

First steps

1. Don't ignore it, and don't reply on your own. Send it to a lawyer who handles ADA website claims.
2. Don't delete or quietly change what the letter describes before your lawyer has seen it. Your lawyer will advise on preserving evidence.
3. Check your whole site, not just the pages named. Run an automated WCAG 2.2 AA check on home, product, cart and checkout pages, then a keyboard and screen reader pass.
4. Start fixing real problems in the code, beginning with anything that blocks buying or contacting you.
5. Keep a dated record of what you checked and fixed, and when. Courts have dismissed some claims as moot after a business fixed its site; whether that applies to you is a question for your lawyer.

What not to rely on

• Adding an accessibility widget. It doesn't fix the code; see why overlays don't make a site compliant.
• A "compliant" certificate from any vendor. The US Department of Justice does not certify ADA compliance.

How Jralo helps

Jralo shows you and your lawyer what is on your site now, keeps a tamper-evident, independently timestamped record of every check and fix from today, and can fix problems in your code as pull requests. Jralo never contacts anyone on your behalf and does not give legal advice.