Free compliance check
ADA Compliance Checklist for Law Firm Websites (2025)
Audit your law firm website against ADA and WCAG 2.1 AA requirements in minutes to reduce demand letter exposure.
Law firm websites are considered places of public accommodation under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and courts including the Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have allowed ADA lawsuits to proceed against firms whose sites are inaccessible to users with disabilities. Plaintiffs filed more than 4,600 federal ADA website lawsuits in 2023, with law firm defendants a growing share.
This checklist walks through the practical technical and content requirements a US law firm site should meet to align with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the de facto standard adopted by the DOJ and most settlement agreements. It is not legal advice, but it will flag the specific gaps that generate demand letters.
Work through each item and confirm the required rules before publishing or after any significant redesign.
Why use itBuilt for the way law firms actually work
WCAG 2.1 AA aligned
Every rule maps to the specific WCAG success criterion cited in DOJ settlements and Title III lawsuits.
Law firm specific
Covers attorney bios, PDF retainer downloads, intake forms, and chat widgets, not generic ecommerce checks.
Required vs recommended
Distinguishes must-fix accessibility barriers from best practice items so you can triage remediation.
Instant results
Get a scored report the moment you finish the checklist, no waiting on a consultant proposal.
100% free
No paywall, no lead capture, no locked report. Use it before every site launch or redesign.
No signup required
Run the validator anonymously without creating an account or entering firm information.
ProcessHow it works
- 01 Review each accessibility rule
Read the plain-language description and the underlying WCAG criterion for every checklist item.
- 02 Test your live site
Use browser dev tools, a screen reader, or an automated scanner to verify each item on your site.
- 03 Mark rules as passing
Check off each rule your site currently satisfies and leave failing items unchecked for the report.
- 04 Generate your compliance report
See total passing count, remaining required rules, and a prioritized remediation list you can hand to your developer.
CoverageWhat's included
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA baseline conformance check
- Alt text, contrast, and visual accessibility rules
- Keyboard navigation and focus indicator checks
- Form label and error announcement requirements
- Video caption and PDF accessibility standards
- Accessibility statement and reporting mechanism
- Separation of required rules from recommendations
- Plain-language explanation of each WCAG criterion
ContextWhy this matters
Federal courts have consistently held that law firm websites qualify as places of public accommodation under Title III of the ADA. In Robles v. Domino's Pizza, the Ninth Circuit confirmed that websites tied to a physical business must be accessible, and lower courts have applied the same logic to attorney websites in California, New York, and Florida.
Plaintiffs' firms filed over 4,600 federal ADA website lawsuits in 2023 according to UsableNet, and demand letters seeking $10,000 to $75,000 settlements are far more common than filed cases. New York and California together account for more than 90% of filings, but any firm marketing across state lines is exposed.
The Department of Justice issued updated web accessibility guidance in 2022 confirming WCAG 2.1 AA as the practical benchmark. Firms that document a good-faith remediation effort against that standard, including a public accessibility statement and a working feedback channel, are meaningfully harder targets and better positioned to resolve complaints without litigation.
Q&AFrequently asked
- Yes. Most federal circuits treat law firm websites as places of public accommodation under Title III, especially when the firm has a physical office. The Ninth and Eleventh Circuits have both allowed website accessibility claims to proceed, and the DOJ has confirmed that Title III applies to web content.
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the operative standard. The DOJ referenced it in its 2022 web accessibility guidance, and virtually every ADA website settlement and consent decree since 2018 has required conformance to WCAG 2.0 or 2.1 at Level AA.
- Yes, the checklist is completely free with no signup, no email capture, and no paywall. It is provided as a practical starting point for firms evaluating their exposure before hiring an accessibility consultant or developer.
- No. This checklist covers the most common issues cited in demand letters and settlements, but full ADA compliance requires manual testing with assistive technology, user testing, and ongoing monitoring. Treat this as a triage tool, not a legal opinion.
- Automated scanners catch only about 30 to 40% of accessibility issues, mostly code-level defects. This checklist adds the content and policy items that scanners cannot detect, such as whether video has captions, whether PDFs are tagged, and whether you publish an accessibility statement.
- Run it before any new website launch, after major redesigns, when adding a new intake form or chat widget, and at least once a year as part of routine risk review. Accessibility regressions are extremely common after template or plugin updates.
- Prioritize the required items first, starting with contrast, keyboard access, form labels, and alt text since those drive the majority of demand letters. Post an accessibility statement with a contact email so users can report barriers, and document your remediation timeline.
- It is strongly recommended. Nearly every ADA settlement requires the defendant to publish an accessibility statement with a feedback mechanism. Having one already in place demonstrates good faith and gives you a documented process for handling complaints before they escalate to litigation.