How Do You Make Your Website ADA Compliant?
Making your website accessible isn’t just about checking a legal box — it’s about ensuring everyone can use and navigate your digital presence effectively. For organizations asking how to make their website ADA compliant, the answer involves a combination of standards, testing, remediation, and ongoing maintenance. As expectations around digital accessibility continue to rise, understanding the process is essential for nonprofits, associations, and public agencies alike.
An ADA-compliant website improves usability for people with disabilities, reduces legal risk, and creates a better experience for all users. This guide walks through what ADA compliance means for websites, how to evaluate your current site, and the steps involved in building and maintaining accessible digital experiences.
Key Takeaways
- ADA website compliance is guided by WCAG standards, not a single legal checklist, with WCAG 2.1 Level AA serving as the most widely accepted benchmark.
- Making a website ADA-compliant involves multiple steps, including identifying standards, auditing for accessibility issues, fixing barriers, and maintaining compliance over time.
- You can check ADA compliance on a website by combining automated accessibility tools with manual, human testing to identify both technical and usability issues.
- Website accessibility is an ongoing process, requiring regular reviews as content, features, and technologies change.
- Accessibility specialists or digital agencies like WDG are most valuable when audits reveal complex issues, compliance risk is high, or long-term accessibility governance is needed.
What ADA Compliance Means for Websites Today
ADA compliance for websites refers to making digital content accessible to people with disabilities, including those who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers, keyboard navigation, or voice controls. While the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed before the modern web existed, it has increasingly been interpreted to apply to websites and digital services.
In practice, most organizations rely on the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to define what accessibility looks like. These guidelines outline how to make content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust for a wide range of users. ADA compliance isn’t limited to government entities — nonprofits, associations, and private organizations all face growing expectations to provide accessible online experiences.
How to Make Your Website ADA Compliant
Making a website ADA-compliant is a structured, multi-step process rather than a single technical update. It typically involves evaluating the current site for accessibility issues, addressing design and development barriers, and putting systems in place to maintain compliance over time.
This process spans both technical and operational considerations, including how content is created, how features are built, and how updates are reviewed. The sections below break this approach into clear, actionable steps that explain how to ensure ADA compliance on a website in a sustainable way.
Related: Website Accessibility Examples
1. Identify the Accessibility Standards Your Website Needs to Meet
The first step in ADA compliance is understanding which accessibility standards apply to your website. While the ADA itself does not prescribe technical rules, WCAG has become the widely accepted framework for evaluating accessibility.
Most organizations aim to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which balances feasibility with meaningful accessibility improvements. This level addresses common barriers affecting users with visual, auditory, motor, and cognitive disabilities. Defining your target standard early helps ensure that audits, remediation efforts, and future updates are aligned with clear expectations.
2. Audit Your Site to Check ADA Compliance
Before making changes, it’s critical to understand where your website currently falls short. Auditing is the most reliable way to check ADA compliance on a website and identify issues that impact real users.
No single audit method is sufficient on its own. A thorough review combines automated testing with human evaluation to capture both technical errors and usability challenges.
Automated Accessibility Testing Tools
Automated tools can quickly scan a website and flag common accessibility issues. These tools are useful for identifying problems such as missing alternative text, insufficient color contrast, or improperly labeled form fields.
While automated testing is efficient, it only catches a portion of potential issues. These tools should be treated as a starting point rather than a definitive assessment of compliance.
Manual and Human Accessibility Reviews
Manual reviews are essential for understanding how users actually experience a website. This includes testing keyboard navigation, reviewing content with screen readers, and assessing whether interactions make sense without visual cues.
Human testing often uncovers issues automation misses, such as confusing link context, inaccessible menus, or poorly structured content. Combining both approaches provides the clearest picture of accessibility gaps and priorities.
3. Fix Common Accessibility Issues That Prevent ADA Compliance
Many websites struggle with the same accessibility barriers, regardless of industry or platform. Addressing these common issues is a practical way to make meaningful progress toward ADA compliance.
- Missing or incorrect alternative text: Images without descriptive alt text cannot be interpreted by screen readers, leaving users without important context. Decorative images should be marked appropriately, while meaningful images need concise descriptions that convey their purpose.
- Poor color contrast: Low contrast between text and background colors makes content difficult to read for users with low vision or color blindness. Ensuring sufficient contrast improves readability for everyone, especially on smaller screens or in bright environments.
- Keyboard navigation gaps: Menus, pop-ups, and forms that require a mouse create barriers for users who rely on keyboards or assistive technologies. All interactive elements should be accessible using standard keyboard controls.
- Improper heading structure: Skipping heading levels or using headings purely for visual styling disrupts how screen readers interpret page structure. Properly nested headings help users understand content hierarchy and navigate efficiently.
- Unlabeled or inaccessible forms: Forms without clear labels, instructions, or accessible error messages are difficult to complete using assistive tools. Proper labeling and feedback ensure forms are usable by all users.
Prioritizing fixes based on user impact and frequency helps organizations address the most critical barriers first while planning for longer-term improvements.
4. Build Accessibility Into Your Ongoing Website Processes
True ADA compliance requires more than remediation — it depends on how a website is managed over time. Without process changes, accessibility issues often reappear as new content and features are added.
Accessibility should be integrated into content publishing, design updates, and development workflows. This may include training editors on accessible content practices, using accessible design components, and incorporating accessibility checks into quality assurance processes. When accessibility becomes part of standard operations, maintaining compliance becomes far more sustainable.
5. Document, Monitor, and Maintain ADA Compliance Over Time
Accessibility is not a one-time project. Regular monitoring and documentation help ensure that progress is maintained and risks are reduced as a website evolves.
Organizations should document accessibility standards, remediation efforts, and internal guidelines. Periodic audits help catch issues introduced by updates, third-party integrations, or new content. Establishing a review cadence ensures that ADA compliance remains an active priority rather than a reactive effort.
Making Your Website ADA Compliant with Web Development Group
Making a website ADA-compliant is both a technical and strategic effort, especially for organizations serving diverse audiences. From accessibility audits to remediation and long-term governance, the process requires expertise across design, development, and content management.
Web Development Group helps nonprofits, associations, and public agencies create accessible, user-focused websites on WordPress and Drupal. Whether you’re assessing your current site or building accessibility into a new digital experience, WDG can help you move forward with clarity and confidence. Connect with our team to start improving your website’s accessibility today.
Frequently Asked Questions About How to Make Your Website ADA Compliant
Is ADA compliance legally required for all websites?
ADA requirements vary by organization and jurisdiction, but courts increasingly interpret the ADA as applying to websites, especially for public-facing organizations and services.
How do I check if my website is ADA compliant?
The most effective approach combines automated accessibility scans with manual testing, such as keyboard navigation and screen reader reviews, to identify real-world barriers.
What accessibility standard should my website follow?
Most organizations use WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the accessibility standard because it is widely recognized, achievable, and aligned with legal expectations.
Can plugins or tools make my website ADA-compliant?
Accessibility plugins and tools can help identify or fix certain issues, but they cannot fully guarantee ADA compliance without proper design, development, and content practices.
How often should a website be reviewed for ADA compliance?
Websites should be reviewed on a regular basis and after major updates, redesigns, or content changes to prevent new accessibility issues from being introduced.
