Checklist

ADA compliance checklist for your website

The ADA covers businesses open to the public, and the Department of Justice says that includes what they offer online. The DOJ has no detailed web standard for businesses. In practice, courts and demand letters measure a site against WCAG 2.1 AA. This checklist turns that standard into checks a site owner can run, most of them in a browser with no code. Each check names the WCAG success criterion it comes from.

General information, not legal advice. Working through this list helps you find problems. It does not make a site compliant, and nothing makes a site lawsuit-proof. Looking for the building checklist with ramps, doors and restrooms? That is the ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities from the ADA National Network. This page is about websites.

Start with the most common failures

In February 2026, WebAIM tested the home pages of the top million websites and found detectable WCAG failures on 95.9% of them. The six most common were low contrast text (83.9% of home pages), missing alt text on images (53.1%), form fields without labels (51%), empty links (46.3%), empty buttons (30.6%) and a missing page language (13.5%). A machine finds all six, so start with the free one-page check. On WordPress, the AuditRush WordPress plugin runs the same kind of checks from your dashboard. Then work through the list below on your most important pages: the home page, a product or service page, the contact form and the checkout.

Images and media

Images that carry information have alt text. The alt text says what the image shows or does. A logo that links to the home page should say your business name. (WCAG 1.1.1)
Decorative images have empty alt text, so screen readers skip them. (WCAG 1.1.1)
Text is real text. Sale banners, menus and price lists are typed text, not pictures of text. Logos are the exception. (WCAG 1.4.5)
Videos with speech have accurate captions. Check automatic captions by hand, because they often get names and numbers wrong. (WCAG 1.2.2)
Videos that show important things without saying them have audio description, a voice that describes what is on screen. (WCAG 1.2.5)
Audio such as a podcast has a transcript. (WCAG 1.2.1)
Nothing plays sound by itself for more than three seconds without a way to stop it. (WCAG 1.4.2)

Color, zoom and layout

Text has enough contrast. Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, and large text 3:1. A free contrast checker gives you the number. Text on photos is where this fails most. (WCAG 1.4.3)
Buttons, field borders and icons have enough contrast, at least 3:1 against what is next to them. (WCAG 1.4.11)
Color is never the only signal. Links in body text have an underline or another mark, and required fields say "required" in words. (WCAG 1.4.1)
The page works at 200% zoom. Press Ctrl and + until the browser shows 200%. All text should still be there and readable. (WCAG 1.4.4)
At 400% zoom the page still fits the window width. You should not need to scroll sideways to read it. (WCAG 1.4.10)
The site works on a phone held upright or sideways. (WCAG 1.3.4)

Keyboard

Everything works without a mouse. Put the mouse away and press Tab to move through the page, Enter to follow links and Space for buttons. You should reach and use every link, button, menu, form field and pop-up. (WCAG 2.1.1)
You can always see where you are. The element in focus has a visible outline or highlight. (WCAG 2.4.7)
Focus moves in a sensible order, top to bottom and left to right as the page reads. (WCAG 2.4.3)
Focus never gets stuck. Chat widgets, video players and pop-ups are where people get trapped. (WCAG 2.1.2)
A keyboard user can skip the menu. A "Skip to content" link as the first stop on the page is the usual way. (WCAG 2.4.1)
Hover menus and tooltips behave. Escape closes them, and they stay open while the pointer moves over them. (WCAG 1.4.13)

Page structure and wording

Every page has its own title that says what the page is, as shown in the browser tab. (WCAG 2.4.2)
Headings are real headings in order. One main heading, then sections below it. Text that is only made big and bold does not count. (WCAG 1.3.1)
Each heading describes its section, so someone who jumps from heading to heading knows where they are. (WCAG 2.4.6)
The page language is set, for example lang="en" on the html element. Screen readers use it to pick the voice. (WCAG 3.1.1)
Link text says where the link goes. A "Read more" link with no other text around it fails. "Read more about our catering menu" passes. (WCAG 2.4.4)
Buttons and icon links have names. A cart icon should be read out as "Cart" and a magnifier as "Search". (WCAG 4.1.2)
The same thing has the same name on every page. A link to your contact page should not say "Contact" on one page and "Get in touch" on the next. (WCAG 3.2.4)
The main menu keeps the same order on every page. (WCAG 3.2.3)
Instructions do not depend on color or position alone. "Press the green button on the right" fails for someone who cannot see it. (WCAG 1.3.3)

Forms and checkout

Every field has a visible label that stays when you start typing. Placeholder text inside the field does not count as a label. (WCAG 3.3.2)
Errors are described in words, for example in a message next to the field. A red border alone fails. (WCAG 3.3.1)
Error messages say how to fix the problem, for example "Enter the date as MM/DD/YYYY". (WCAG 3.3.3)
Name, email, address and phone fields support autofill, so the browser can fill them in. (WCAG 1.3.5)
Customers can check and correct an order or a booking before it is final, or cancel it afterwards. (WCAG 3.3.4)
Status messages are announced. "Added to cart" or "3 results found" should reach a screen reader without moving the focus. (WCAG 4.1.3)
Choosing an option does not act on its own. Picking from a list or ticking a box does not submit the form or open a new page. (WCAG 3.2.2)
Moving into a field does not change the page. Tabbing or clicking into a field should never submit a form or open a new page by itself. (WCAG 3.2.1)

Time and motion

Sliders and carousels that move by themselves have a pause button. (WCAG 2.2.2)
Time limits can be extended. A session that times out during checkout warns the user and offers more time. (WCAG 2.2.1)
Nothing flashes more than three times a second. (WCAG 2.3.1)

What this checklist leaves out

WCAG 2.1 AA has 50 success criteria. This list covers the ones a site owner can check in a browser. The rest need a developer or a screen reader: how custom widgets report their state, pointer gestures, whether a button's spoken name matches its visible text, and whether text spacing changes break the layout. Automated tools cover roughly a third of the criteria, so a clean scan does not finish the job either. Leave those checks to a developer or an audit. Our WCAG compliance check guide explains how the standard is built.

When you find problems

Write down each failure with the page, the check and the date. Fix the ones that stop people from buying, booking or contacting you first. How that work goes and what it costs is in our guide to website accessibility remediation.

A checklist you ran yourself is useful for fixing. If an attorney, a customer or a procurement team needs to see where the site stands, they will want an independent report with evidence. The automated audit costs $149 for 10 pages and arrives within 24 hours. The signed audit costs $490 for 10 pages and arrives in 48-72 hours, reviewed and signed by a certified accessibility specialist. You can read a full sample report first.

Common questions

Is there an official ADA website compliance checklist?

No. The Department of Justice has no detailed web standard for businesses. Its 2022 guidance names WCAG as helpful guidance and lets businesses choose how they make their sites accessible. Demand letters and courts use WCAG 2.1 AA, which is why this checklist is built on it.

Does the ADA apply to my website?

If your business serves the public, plan on yes. The details, including the open question about online-only businesses, are in is my website ADA compliant.

What about state and local government websites?

They have a firmer rule. A 2024 Justice Department regulation under Title II sets WCAG 2.1 AA for state and local government websites and apps. This checklist works for those sites too.

Can a free scanner check this whole list?

No. A scanner finds contrast, missing alt text, missing labels, empty links and buttons, and a missing page language. It cannot tell whether your alt text is useful, whether the menu works with a keyboard, or whether your captions are accurate. Those checks need a person.

How often should I go through the checklist?

After any redesign, theme change or new app, and whenever you add a new kind of page, such as a booking form. Sites drift as content changes, so a check once a year catches what slipped in.

Start with the machine checks: run the free one-page check. For the whole site, the automated audit is $149 and the signed audit is $490.