Concerned About Your Website’s ADA Compliance? You’re Not Alone.

Web accessibility and ADA compliance continue to be pressing issues, especially in the legal landscape. Lawsuits related to ADA Title III (which mandates accessibility for private businesses) have steadily increased over the past several years. In 2023 alone, there were over 4,600 federal lawsuits filed in the U.S. related to web accessibility, matching or surpassing the peak levels seen in recent years. This upward trend signals that businesses can no longer afford to overlook digital accessibility.

Here’s the hard truth: there’s currently no universal benchmark to confirm 100% ADA compliance for websites. If someone claims otherwise, they’re not being fully honest.

Still, that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. There are clear, actionable steps you can take to significantly improve the accessibility of your website for all users, including those with disabilities. And while some lawsuits may be opportunistic, the purpose of the law is a noble one: to ensure everyone has equal access to the web.

As web developer Manuel Matuzovic put it so well:

“Accessibility is something that concerns all of us, you and me, every day. What we create is useless if it isn’t accessible.”

With that in mind, let’s start with a quick look at how we got here.

What Is the ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990, was designed to protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination. It’s the reason employers can’t exclude qualified candidates based on a disability, and why physical spaces, like stores and offices, must be wheelchair accessible.

The ADA spans multiple sectors, including employment, transportation, telecommunications, and—yes—the internet.

Title III of the ADA specifically applies to private businesses, requiring that they provide accessible goods and services to individuals with disabilities. It prohibits “barriers to access,” and mandates that these barriers be removed whenever possible.

Back in the 1990s, those barriers were typically physical, such as narrow hallways, steps without a ramp, or inaccessible restrooms. However, today, websites have become virtual storefronts, bringing with them a new set of digital “barriers to service.” These can be much harder to recognize—things like unreadable content for screen readers, missing alt text for images, or navigation that relies solely on a mouse.

For B2B companies—especially those in manufacturing or material handling—this is especially critical. Distributors, engineers, and procurement teams all rely on digital access to evaluate vendors, request quotes, and interact with your products. If your site isn’t accessible, you may be excluding potential customers and partners from engaging with your business.

ADA Compliance Best Practices

With that background in mind, it’s easy to see why so many businesses run into trouble with ADA compliance. The law isn’t highly specific, especially when it comes to websites. It outlines the requirement to remove barriers, but it doesn’t prescribe exact how-to steps for digital platforms.

Complicating things further, the rise of DIY website builders has made web development more accessible—but often at the cost of accessibility itself. Many websites are created by individuals with limited development experience, and that can unintentionally lead to serious accessibility gaps.

For industrial and manufacturing websites, where catalogs, datasheets, and technical specifications are often embedded in complex site structures, it’s even easier to overlook accessibility, especially when these assets are locked in PDFs or hard-to-navigate layouts.

If you’re a developer, most of the best practices we’ll outline below should feel familiar; they’re standard protocol in modern, user-focused development. However, if you’re unsure what to look for, things can veer off course quickly.

And it bears repeating—loudly: There is no silver bullet for ADA compliance. Not an SEO plan. Not an accessibility statement. Not even a fancy plug-in that promises ADA protection. These tools can help, but they’re just that: tools. A plugin can’t scan for every issue, and an audit alone won’t guarantee protection.

Like SEO, accessibility is an ongoing effort. So, if a company promises a “guaranteed” fix or claims to fully protect you from ADA-related lawsuits, take it with a heavy dose of skepticism—and consult a lawyer.

To help you get started, we’ve broken down some practical ADA web compliance best practices into four core categories: Development, SEO, Design, and Social Media.

Let’s dig into what you can do to comply to ADA regulations and requirements. 

Development ADA Best Practices

Accessibility starts at the code level. A strong foundation built with accessible HTML, JavaScript, and CSS ensures your website is usable by all visitors, including those using assistive technologies like screen readers or keyboard-only navigation.

Here are some essential development practices to prioritize:

• Clean, Semantic Code
  Use structured, semantic HTML that follows a logical hierarchy. Label sections clearly using landmarks (<header>, <nav>, <main>, <footer>, etc.) to help screen readers and other assistive technologies navigate the content with ease. 
• Responsive Text & Resizing Support
  Ensure that text scales appropriately across different devices and screen sizes. Users should also be able to manually increase font size without breaking your layout or hiding important content. 
• Keyboard-Only Navigation
  All website functionality should be accessible without a mouse. Users should be able to navigate using only the Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. This includes dropdowns, modals, forms, and any interactive elements. 
• “Skip to Content” Link
  Include a visible “Skip to Content” button or link at the top of your pages. This allows keyboard users to bypass repetitive elements like navigation menus and jump straight to the main content.

For B2B manufacturers, these practices are especially useful for making complex interfaces—like request-a-quote tools, distributor locators, and spec sheet downloads—usable by all site visitors.

These small adjustments can make a massive difference in usability and help lay the groundwork for deeper accessibility improvements across your site.

SEO ADA Best Practices

Believe it or not, SEO plans cover quite a few ADA compliance best practices. Many of the foundational elements of an ADA compliance strategy are also critical to a good SEO plan. The hang-up here is that these are not one-and-done tactics. They require an ongoing commitment to ADA compliance to ensure that new content added to the website is held to the same standards. Those standards include:

• Alt Tags on All Images: This is a biggie. All images need alt tags to ensure that individuals using screen readers can understand what is happening in the image.
• Title Tags: Another SEO mainstay, title tags are important in that they let the user know exactly where they are on your website.
• Transcripts and Captions: All videos need captions and/or full transcripts and all audio sources (podcasts, music clips, etc.) need text transcripts to ensure accessibility.
• Make PDFs Text Searchable: This one is often problematic. Innately, PDFs are not text searchable, making them completely useless to disabled visitors. PDF reader Adobe Acrobat offers a tool that can help make your PDFs accessible and provides suggestions to improve accessibility.

This is especially important for manufacturers who rely on PDF catalogs, equipment specs, CAD drawings, or user manuals—many of which are not accessible by default. Converting these to accessible formats can vastly improve usability for all customers.

• Accessibility Statement: An accessibility statement is a necessary page for all websites. Similar to a privacy statement, which outlines how your information is collected, protected, and used on a website, an accessibility statement covers a business’ ongoing commitment to providing an accessible website and offers additional resources, as well as contact information for questions or concerns.

Design ADA Best Practices

Design can be one of the trickier areas of ADA compliance. With brand guidelines and marketing goals driving visual decisions, accessibility can sometimes take a back seat. But it doesn’t have to.

Here are a few key design considerations:

• Color Contrast: Brand colors may look great on a marketing campaign, but they can present readability issues online. Strong contrast between background and text is essential for users with visual impairments. Online tools like color contrast checkers can help you evaluate your palette and identify more accessible alternatives. Keep in mind that off-the-shelf themes and templates may have baked-in limitations—and making changes could require some compromise with your brand team. 
• Microsites for Accessibility: One idea we’ve seen floated is creating a separate microsite built with accessibility in mind, especially when branding constraints make your main site harder to adapt. This approach could work, but only if all content is mirrored on the accessible version. Anything less may be viewed as exclusionary or discriminatory.

This may be a viable option for B2B manufacturers with large, legacy websites that are difficult to retrofit—allowing for an accessible hub where customers can still access core product data and contact resources.

Social Media ADA Best Practices

Social media often flies under the radar when it comes to ADA compliance—but it shouldn’t. If your business links to its social media profiles on your website (and let’s be honest, it probably does), you’re also responsible for ensuring that content is accessible.

Here’s how to stay ahead:

• Accessible Social Media Content: Some brands are leading by example. For instance, Whole30 founder Melissa Hartwig includes detailed image descriptions with every post, giving screen reader users a full understanding of the visual content. Instagram now allows alt text for images—and we expect other platforms to follow suit soon.
  
  A best practice for now? Make sure the key content from your social posts is also published on your website in an accessible format. Social platforms change constantly and are largely out of your control, but your website is not. 
• Accessible Embedded Content: If you’re embedding videos, podcasts, or other third-party media on your site—even if you didn’t create them—you’re responsible for ensuring they meet accessibility standards. That includes captions for videos, transcripts for audio, and player controls that work with assistive technologies. 
• Linking to Non-Compliant Sites: This one’s a bit controversial. Linking is essential to a strong web presence, but be cautious about where you’re sending users. Linking to an inaccessible site could be seen as endorsing it. While you can’t control other websites, you can control how you present the link. Descriptive anchor text (e.g., “Read our privacy policy on XYZ.gov”) is much better than generic “click here” links—and it’s a good accessibility practice regardless. 

Final Thoughts

Still with us? If this all feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. ADA compliance isn’t as simple as checking a few boxes. It’s a continuous effort, much like maintaining good SEO or site security. While there may not yet be a universal checklist to follow, legal momentum and public pressure are pushing for clearer standards—and that’s a good thing.

In B2B sectors like material handling and manufacturing—where digital interactions play a crucial role in procurement, logistics, and vendor selection—ADA compliance is more than a legal issue. It’s a customer experience issue.

In the meantime, stay proactive. Stay informed. And most importantly, design your digital presence with everyone in mind. Use our AccessiBe link today to improve your digital presence. 

This blog post is not legal advice, but digital marketing and web development guidance based on industry standards. Please seek legal counsel if you feel that is appropriate.