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Got an ADA website demand letter? Technical steps for the first 48 hours

By Peter PavelkaLast updated:

If a letter or email has just told you that your online store is inaccessible to people with disabilities, it is normal to feel alarmed. This guide covers the technical side only: how to understand what is actually wrong with your site and start fixing it properly. The legal side (whether the claim is valid, how and when to respond) is a job for a lawyer.

First, the most important step: talk to a qualified attorney. Letters like this may include deadlines. We cannot tell you whether a claim is valid, how to respond, or what it might cost, and nothing in this guide should be read that way. Bring the letter, and the technical information you gather below, to a lawyer. Ask them before you reply to the sender, post any public statement about accessibility, or change your site, and follow any instructions they give you about keeping records.

We don't review letters, recommend lawyers, or negotiate with anyone on your behalf. This guide is general technical information, not advice about your situation.

Hour 0-2: Don't panic-buy a "fix"

You may quickly be offered one-line plugins or widgets that promise instant "ADA compliance". Be careful. In April 2025 the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved a final order against one well-known vendor, accessiBe, which had claimed its accessWidget plug-in could make any website compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The FTC's complaint alleged those claims were false, misleading, or unsubstantiated, and the order required the company to pay $1 million (FTC Approves Final Order Requiring accessiBe to pay $1 Million (Federal Trade Commission, April 22, 2025)). We explain this in more detail in our guide to overlay widgets.

Hour 2-6: Read the letter for technical details

Many letters describe specific problems a person ran into, such as images without descriptions, a menu that cannot be opened with a keyboard, or a checkout button a screen reader cannot announce. Make a simple list:

  • Which pages or features are mentioned (homepage, product pages, cart, checkout, pop-ups)?
  • What kind of barrier is described (missing alt text, unlabeled form fields, keyboard problems, low contrast)?
  • Which assistive technology is mentioned, if any (for example a screen reader)?

This list is useful both for whoever fixes your site and for your lawyer.

Hour 6-12: Record how your site looks today

Before you start changing things, save a dated record of the current state so you and your lawyer can see what was fixed and when:

  1. Run an automated scan of your key pages and save the report (our free scan checks your homepage, a collection page, a product page and the cart).
  2. Take screenshots of the pages mentioned in the letter.
  3. Write down your theme name and version, and the apps or plugins that add things to your storefront (reviews, pop-ups, chat, wishlists, currency switchers). Third-party apps are a common source of problems.

Hour 12-24: Understand what an automated scan can and can't tell you

Automated checkers are a good starting point, but they are not the whole answer. The U.S. Department of Justice's web guidance says automated checkers "need to be used carefully" and that a "clean" report "does not necessarily mean everything is accessible" (Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (ADA.gov, U.S. Department of Justice, March 18, 2022)). The W3C, which publishes WCAG, says evaluation tools "can not determine accessibility, they can only assist in doing so" (Selecting Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools (W3C WAI)).

So use the scan to find the obvious, fixable problems quickly, then add manual checks. The quickest manual check is to try your store with only a keyboard.

Hour 24-48: Plan the high-impact technical fixes

The Department of Justice lists examples of barriers such as poor color contrast, missing alt text on images, videos without captions, inaccessible forms and mouse-only navigation (Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (ADA.gov, U.S. Department of Justice, March 18, 2022)). On a typical store, the first technical fixes are usually:

  1. Alt text on product and banner images. See how to add alt text in Shopify.
  2. Names for icon-only links and buttons (cart, search, menu, social icons, close buttons on pop-ups).
  3. Labels on form fields such as newsletter sign-up, search, quantity and product option selectors.
  4. Text contrast, especially light grey text and text over images. See fixing color contrast in Shopify.
  5. Keyboard access to menus, pop-ups, product options and the add-to-cart button.

Agree the timing of changes with your lawyer. Keep a simple change log (date, what changed, which page) and re-run the scan after each batch of changes. Fixing these problems makes your store easier to use, but it does not by itself settle or end a legal claim.

After the first 48 hours

  • Plan a manual review of the full purchase path: browse, choose options, add to cart, check out.
  • Consider adding a way for customers to report accessibility problems. The DOJ guidance notes that sites which give the public a way to report accessibility problems allow owners to fix them (Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (ADA.gov, U.S. Department of Justice, March 18, 2022)).
  • Re-check after theme updates and new apps, because changes can quietly introduce new problems.

Check your own store in a minute or two. Our free scanner opens your homepage, a collection page, a product page and your cart in a real browser and lists the problems it can detect automatically, in plain English.

Run the free scan

Technical fixes, not legal advice. This guide explains website accessibility from a technical point of view. We are not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. No scan, fix or guide can guarantee legal compliance, the outcome of any demand letter or lawsuit, or protection from future claims. If you have received a legal claim, please consult a qualified attorney about it.

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