ADA lawsuit statistics
The same technical issues, over and over
Most ADA demand letters and lawsuits follow a predictable pattern: a firm runs an automated scan (often the same category of tool we use), finds a handful of clear WCAG 2.1 AA violations, and uses that as the basis for a claim. The issues that show up most often are unglamorous and highly fixable:
- Missing or meaningless alt text on product images and icons
- Keyboard traps — menus, modals or carousels that can't be closed or navigated without a mouse
- Insufficient color contrast on text and buttons
- Unlabeled form fields, especially on checkout and sign-up flows
- Missing captions on video content
- No visible focus indicator for keyboard users
Run the scan above and you'll see these exact categories — the same ones a plaintiff's expert would flag — with severity, the WCAG success criterion involved, and proof from your actual page.
Paid, and still sued
What the free scan covers — and what still needs a human
| Covered by automated scan | Needs manual review |
|---|---|
| Missing alt attributes, color contrast ratios, missing form labels, empty links/buttons, missing document language, duplicate IDs | Whether alt text is actually meaningful in context, logical reading/focus order, whether link text makes sense out of context |
| Structural heading/landmark issues, ARIA misuse patterns, missing captions tracks | Real keyboard-only usability of complex widgets, cognitive load and plain-language clarity |
This is why Abledly runs two engines plus an AI review layer for the gray-zone judgment calls, and offers a guided manual-review workflow for the roughly 30-40% of WCAG criteria that automation genuinely cannot assess on its own.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official ADA website compliance standard?
The ADA itself doesn't name a specific web technical standard, but courts, settlements and DOJ guidance consistently point to WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the practical benchmark plaintiffs' firms and defendants both use.
How many ADA website lawsuits are filed each year?
Federal ADA web-accessibility lawsuits have kept climbing, with 3,117 filed in 2025 alone — up about 27% year over year — and roughly 77% of those targeted e-commerce sites.
Do accessibility overlay widgets protect against ADA lawsuits?
Not reliably. Public reporting indicates about 1 in 4 sites sued in 2025 already had an overlay widget installed, and the FTC fined overlay vendor accessiBe $1 million in January 2025 for deceptive compliance claims. An overlay is not a substitute for fixing the underlying code.
What does a free ADA scan actually check?
Our free scan runs two independent engines (axe-core and IBM Equal Access) plus an AI review layer against WCAG 2.1 AA on your live page. It reliably finds a meaningful share of common violations, but roughly 30-40% of WCAG success criteria require manual, human judgment to assess.
Does passing an automated scan mean I'm ADA compliant?
No. No automated tool, including ours, can certify legal compliance. A clean automated scan means you've cleared the machine-detectable issues; full conformance also requires manual review and is ultimately a legal question. This is not legal advice.
What should I do if I receive an ADA demand letter?
Get a real scan of your site immediately to understand your actual exposure, begin documented remediation, and talk to legal counsel experienced in ADA web claims. A dated record of good-faith remediation effort is one of the most useful things you can have.
See your real ADA exposure — free
Two engines plus AI review, results in under a minute. No overlay, no fake "100% compliant".
Check your site free