ADA and web accessibility for US online stores, explained.

What is happening

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a US civil rights law. Courts have applied it to some business websites, and most claims are filed against online shops. UsableNet's 2026 midyear report projects about 6,176 web accessibility lawsuits for 2026, roughly 20% more than 2025. It says 79% target ecommerce and 68% target companies with under $50M in revenue. A separate count by EcomBack found 1,037 cases in the first quarter of 2026, 459 of them against Shopify stores. The two sources count differently, so treat the figures as a guide to direction, not exact numbers.

What the law asks for

There is no single technical rulebook for private business websites in the ADA itself. In practice, claims, settlements and consultants most often refer to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), usually level AA. How a court treats a specific site is a question for a lawyer.

What claims usually point to

Complaints tend to describe problems that stop people using a screen reader or a keyboard. These are the same problems an automated scan looks for:

• Images with no text description.
• Links and buttons with no readable name, such as an icon-only cart or menu button.
• Form fields with no label, including search, newsletter and checkout fields.
• Low contrast text that many people can't read.
• Menus, cart drawers and popups that a keyboard user can't operate.

If you have received a demand letter

Don't ignore it, and speak to a lawyer before you reply. A scan can show you what is wrong on a page, which helps you and your lawyer plan the fixes, but it does not settle a claim or protect you from one. We can't advise on the legal side.

Do widgets solve it?

Not on their own. Widgets sit on top of your page and don't change the code underneath. One review of 2025 filings reports more than 1,400 lawsuits named a site that already had an accessibility widget installed, and in 2025 the FTC required accessiBe to pay $1 million over claims that its product could make any site WCAG compliant. See overlays vs code fixes.

First steps for a store owner

1. Scan your home page, a product page and your cart. Use the form on this page for a free scan.
2. Fix the biggest problems first, and start with checkout.
3. Test by keyboard from product page to completed order.
4. Publish an accessibility statement with an email or form where people can report problems.
5. Re-test after theme or app changes.
6. Talk to a lawyer about your own situation.

Lintel is an early-stage service. It scans a page and reports problems today, and code-level fixes for store themes are still being built. Automated scanning finds only part of the problems on a page, and Lintel does not guarantee compliance with any law or prevent a claim.