Let's talk about the elephant in the room: legal risk. We don't want to scare you—but we do want you to understand what's at stake.
The Lawsuit Landscape
Over 4,000 ADA-related digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in 2024. That's more than 10 lawsuits every single day. And that number has been growing steadily year over year.
Common targets include:
- E-commerce sites — If you sell products online, you're in a higher-risk category
- Restaurants — Menus, online ordering, and reservation systems
- Healthcare providers — Patient portals and appointment booking
- Financial services — Banking, insurance, investing platforms
- Entertainment — Ticketing, streaming, venues
But lawsuits have been filed against businesses of all sizes and types. A small local business with a non-compliant website can absolutely be targeted.
What a Lawsuit Looks Like
Most accessibility lawsuits follow a pattern:
Demand letter — A law firm sends a letter claiming your website violates the ADA and demanding settlement (often $5,000-$25,000 for small businesses)
Decision point — You can settle, negotiate, or fight
If you fight — Litigation costs quickly exceed settlement amounts, often reaching $50,000-$100,000+
Remediation required — Whether you settle or lose, you'll still need to fix your website
Many businesses choose to settle quickly to avoid legal fees, even if they believe they could win. The economics of fighting often don't make sense.
Beyond Lawsuits: Other Consequences
Lost Customers
If 20-25% of potential customers can't use your website, how much revenue are you leaving on the table?
Reputation Damage
Being known as a business that discriminates (even unintentionally) hurts your brand.
Contract Requirements
Increasingly, larger companies require vendors to demonstrate accessibility compliance.
Government Contracts
Non-compliance can disqualify you from lucrative public sector work.
The Good News
Here's what the legal landscape also tells us: businesses that proactively address accessibility rarely get sued.
Most lawsuits target websites with obvious, significant barriers that show no effort toward accessibility. If you're working toward compliance—fixing issues, adding alt text, improving navigation—you're much less likely to be targeted.
And if you do receive a demand letter, having documentation of your accessibility efforts and a remediation plan gives you much stronger ground to stand on.
Protecting Your Business
The best defense is a good offense:
- Start fixing issues now — Even partial progress helps
- Document your efforts — Keep records of what you've improved
- Create an accessibility statement — Shows good faith
- Build accessibility into your process — Make it ongoing, not one-time
Proactive beats reactive. Every time.