What Happens If My Website Isn't Accessible? ADA Lawsuit Risks

Many organizations treat website accessibility as a distant concern—something they'll get to eventually, when budget allows or when it becomes urgent. But "eventually" often arrives as a demand letter, a lawsuit, or the realization that you've been losing customers you didn't know you had.

The consequences of an inaccessible website extend beyond legal risk. This guide examines what actually happens when websites fail to meet accessibility standards, from the most immediate legal threats to the slower erosion of market opportunity.

The Legal Reality

You Can Be Sued

This is no longer a theoretical risk. In recent years, thousands of website accessibility lawsuits have been filed annually in the United States alone. The frequency has increased dramatically, and no sign suggests this trend will reverse.

Under ADA Title III, businesses that operate places of "public accommodation" must provide accessible services. Courts have increasingly ruled that websites of such businesses fall under this requirement. The exact legal standard varies by jurisdiction, but the direction of legal interpretation favors plaintiffs asserting website accessibility rights.

E-commerce, hospitality, restaurants, healthcare, banking, and education sectors face the highest lawsuit rates, but virtually any business with a public website can be targeted.

What a Lawsuit Looks Like

When an accessibility lawsuit arrives, it typically begins with a demand letter. A law firm representing a plaintiff—often someone who attempted to use your website and encountered barriers—sends notice of intent to sue unless you settle.

Demand letters typically request:

• Monetary damages (often $5,000-$50,000)
• Attorney's fees (often exceeding the damages)
• Commitment to remediate accessibility issues
• Follow-up testing to verify compliance

If you don't respond satisfactorily, the matter proceeds to formal litigation. This triggers defense attorney costs—typically $300-$600 per hour—along with discovery processes, potential expert witness fees, and the management time required to respond to legal proceedings.

Settlement Costs

Most accessibility lawsuits settle rather than going to trial. Typical settlements include:

Single-plaintiff settlements: $10,000-$50,000 in most cases, though amounts vary widely based on the severity of accessibility barriers and the organization's resources.

Serial plaintiff settlements: Some plaintiffs file numerous lawsuits; organizations may be one of dozens targeted. These cases sometimes settle for lower amounts due to volume.

Class actions: When accessibility failures affect many users, class action suits can seek millions in damages. Large companies have settled accessibility class actions for amounts ranging from several hundred thousand to several million dollars.

Consent decrees: In more serious cases, courts may impose consent decrees requiring ongoing compliance monitoring, regular reporting, and third-party auditing—expensive obligations that continue for years.

Beyond direct settlement costs, you'll spend on legal defense, accessibility remediation, and often monitoring services—total costs frequently exceeding $100,000 for what started as a "simple" demand letter.

Beyond Lawsuits: Regulatory Action

Government Enforcement

While private lawsuits generate headlines, government enforcement creates different but significant risks.

The Department of Justice has pursued accessibility cases against both private businesses and government entities. DOJ settlements typically require comprehensive remediation programs, ongoing monitoring, and substantial payments.

The Federal Trade Commission has examined accessibility-related claims, particularly around misleading marketing about accessibility features or compliance status.

State attorneys general in California, New York, and other states have brought accessibility-related actions under state consumer protection and civil rights laws.

Government Contracts and Procurement

Organizations seeking government contracts must demonstrate accessibility compliance. Section 508 requires accessible ICT for federal agencies, and contractors must meet these standards.

An inaccessible website can disqualify you from:

• Federal contracts
• State and local government work
• Educational institution contracts
• Healthcare organization partnerships

For organizations that depend on government business, accessibility failures have immediate revenue consequences.

The Business Impact

Lost Customers

The most significant cost of inaccessibility isn't lawsuits—it's the customers you never know you're losing.

About 61 million Americans have disabilities. That's roughly 26% of the adult population. Globally, the figure exceeds one billion people. These individuals have $490 billion in annual disposable income in the US alone and $8 trillion globally.

When your website isn't accessible, these potential customers leave without completing purchases, without signing up for your service, without engaging with your content. They go to competitors who've made the effort to include them.

This lost revenue doesn't appear in your analytics as "users who left due to accessibility barriers." It appears as nothing—silence, absence, business that simply doesn't happen. You never see the shopping cart that wasn't completed because the checkout form lacked proper labels, or the signup that didn't occur because the registration process was keyboard-inaccessible.

Ripple Effects

People with disabilities don't exist in isolation. They have families, friends, and colleagues who observe how businesses treat them. When someone in a wheelchair can't navigate your physical store, their companions see it. When someone's blind spouse can't use your website, the whole household notices.

Studies consistently show that organizations with strong accessibility practices earn loyalty not just from people with disabilities but from their extended networks—representing significant additional market reach.

Reputational Damage

Accessibility failures can become public embarrassments. News coverage of accessibility lawsuits, social media posts from frustrated users, and advocacy group campaigns can damage brand reputation.

Major brands have faced significant negative publicity over accessibility issues. While a small business might not attract national attention, industry-specific press, local coverage, or viral social media posts can still cause lasting damage.

Conversely, organizations known for accessibility excellence earn positive recognition, customer loyalty, and goodwill that translates to business value.

The Organizational Cost

Emergency Remediation

When accessibility becomes urgent—due to a lawsuit, a major customer requirement, or executive attention—remediation happens under pressure. Emergency accessibility work costs significantly more than planned improvements:

• Rush fees for audit firms
• Premium rates for developers working overtime
• Less efficient prioritization due to time pressure
• Higher error rates requiring rework
• Disruption to planned development roadmaps

Organizations typically pay 2-3x normal costs for accessibility work performed under legal deadlines.

Technical Debt Accumulation

Every day an inaccessible website operates, it accumulates more inaccessible content. New product pages with missing alt text, new features built without keyboard support, new forms lacking proper labels—the problem grows while you delay addressing it.

Catching up becomes progressively harder. An organization that addresses accessibility early might spend $20,000 on remediation. The same organization waiting five years might face a $100,000+ effort as issues compound across years of content and feature additions.

Opportunity Costs

Resources spent on accessibility lawsuits, emergency remediation, and reputation management are resources not spent on business growth, product development, or customer experience improvements.

The opportunity cost of reactive accessibility work often exceeds the direct costs.

Risk Factors

Several characteristics increase an organization's accessibility lawsuit risk:

High-volume e-commerce: Online retailers face the most lawsuits by volume. If you sell products online, your risk is elevated.

Industries serving older populations: Healthcare, financial services, and retirement-related businesses serve demographics with higher disability rates.

Geographic presence: California and New York generate the most accessibility lawsuits. Businesses headquartered or operating heavily in these states face higher exposure.

Previous violations: Organizations that have been sued once are more likely to be targeted again if issues aren't fully resolved.

Prominent brands: High-profile companies attract attention from plaintiffs and advocacy groups.

Visible inaccessibility: Obvious barriers—especially those blocking critical functions like checkout—invite complaints.

Mitigating the Risks

The path forward isn't complicated, even if it requires effort:

Assess your current state: Understand what accessibility issues exist. You can't fix what you haven't identified.

Prioritize by impact: Address barriers that completely block functionality before addressing minor issues.

Implement fixes: Actually remediate the issues found—audits without action provide no protection.

Monitor continuously: Prevent new issues from accumulating as your website changes.

Document your efforts: Good-faith efforts toward accessibility matter in legal contexts. Keep records.

None of this eliminates risk entirely, but it dramatically reduces exposure while providing genuine benefits to users.

Taking Action

The question isn't whether you can afford to make your website accessible—it's whether you can afford not to. Legal exposure, lost customers, and reputational risk compound over time, while the cost of addressing accessibility proactively remains relatively stable.

Start now. The longer you wait, the more expensive and disruptive the eventual fix becomes.

TestParty helps organizations identify and address accessibility issues before they become costly problems.

Schedule a TestParty demo and get a 14-day compliance implementation plan.

Related Resources

• ADA Lawsuit Statistics 2025
• ADA Lawsuit Defense Through Source Code
• Website Accessibility Cost 2025
• Accessibility ROI Calculator