Accessibility & ADA — Ritner Digital
Back to Web Design

Accessibility & ADA

An inaccessible website isn't just a missed opportunity — it's a legal liability. We build WCAG-compliant sites that work for everyone, protect your business, and open your doors to the 1 in 4 Americans living with a disability.

Start Your Project →

What We Deliver

Accessibility isn't a checklist — it's a standard of quality. Every service we offer is built around making your site work for every visitor, every time.

WCAG Audit

A full accessibility audit against WCAG 2.1 AA standards — covering every page, every component, and every interaction with a prioritized remediation plan.

ADA Compliance

We bring your site into ADA Title III compliance — reducing your legal exposure and protecting your business from the surge in website accessibility lawsuits.

Screen Reader Optimization

Proper semantic HTML, ARIA labels, landmark roles, and reading order — so screen readers like JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver navigate your site the way you intend.

Keyboard Navigation

Every interactive element reachable and operable without a mouse — full tab order, visible focus indicators, and skip navigation links for keyboard-only users.

Color & Contrast

Text, UI elements, and graphics tested against WCAG contrast ratios — ensuring readability for users with low vision, color blindness, or bright screen conditions.

Alt Text & Media

Descriptive alt text for every image, captions for video, transcripts for audio — so no content is locked away from users who experience it differently.

Form Accessibility

Properly labeled inputs, error messages that are clear and programmatically associated, and form flows that work correctly with assistive technologies.

Accessibility Statement

A published, legally-informed accessibility statement for your site — documenting your compliance posture, known limitations, and how users can request accommodations.

Ongoing Monitoring

Accessibility isn't a one-time fix. As your site grows and changes, we monitor for new issues and keep your compliance posture current — so you stay protected over time.

Sound Familiar?

These are the most common reasons businesses come to us for accessibility help. If any of these hit close to home, you're in the right place.

⚖️

You received a demand letter or lawsuit threat

ADA website accessibility lawsuits have surged — over 4,000 are filed every year in federal court alone. If you've received a demand letter, the clock is ticking and you need a remediation plan now, not later.

🤷

You're not sure if your site is actually compliant

Running an automated scanner and getting a green checkmark doesn't mean you're compliant. Automated tools catch about 30% of accessibility issues. The rest require human review — and those are the ones that end up in lawsuits.

🦯

Your site is unusable with a screen reader

If a blind user lands on your site and can't navigate the menu, fill out your contact form, or understand what your images say, you've locked out a significant portion of your potential customers.

🎨

Your brand colors fail contrast requirements

Light gray text on white. Low-contrast buttons. Decorative overlays on hero text. These look clean in a design file but fail WCAG contrast ratios — and make your site genuinely unreadable for millions of users.

⌨️

Your site can't be used without a mouse

Keyboard-only users, people using switch controls, and anyone who can't operate a pointing device are completely locked out if your site doesn't support proper tab order and focus management.

📋

You have a government or enterprise contract requirement

Section 508, EN 301 549, and many enterprise procurement policies require demonstrable accessibility compliance before a contract can be signed. Without it, you're disqualified before the conversation starts.

What Is Web Accessibility — And Why Does It Actually Matter?

Accessibility is about making sure your website works for everyone — including the 61 million Americans living with a disability. It's also about making sure your business is legally protected.

Web accessibility means building sites that can be perceived, understood, navigated, and interacted with by people of all abilities — including those who are blind or have low vision, deaf or hard of hearing, have motor impairments, or experience cognitive disabilities. The technical standard is WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), currently at version 2.1, with Level AA being the accepted legal benchmark in the US.

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has been increasingly interpreted by courts to apply to websites as places of public accommodation. This has fueled a wave of accessibility lawsuits against businesses of all sizes — from solo operators to Fortune 500 companies. You don't need a physical location to be a target. If your website serves the public, it can be sued.

Beyond the legal angle, accessibility is good business. Accessible sites perform better in search engines, load faster, work better on all devices, and reach a market segment with over $490 billion in disposable income. Building accessibly isn't just the right thing to do — it's the smart thing to do.

61M
Americans live with a disability — that's 1 in 4 adults. An inaccessible site locks out a significant portion of your potential customers before they read a word.
4,000+
ADA website accessibility lawsuits are filed every year in federal court — and the number grows annually. No business is too small to be targeted.
$490B
in disposable income is controlled by people with disabilities in the US. Accessibility isn't just compliance — it's access to a massive, underserved market.
30%
of accessibility issues are caught by automated scanners. The other 70% require human review — which is why a green score from an overlay tool doesn't mean you're protected.

Screen Reader Optimization

A site that looks perfect visually can be completely unusable for someone relying on a screen reader. We audit and fix the underlying code — semantic structure, ARIA labels, landmark roles, and reading order — so the experience is as intentional for blind users as it is for sighted ones.

Semantic HTML — headings, lists, tables, and landmarks used correctly
ARIA labels and roles that give context to interactive elements
Tested with JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver — not just automated scanners
Reading order matches visual order — no more confusing announcement sequences
Explore Screen Reader Optimization →
🔒 yoursite.com
✓ What JAWS announces after optimization
🔊
"Team of designers collaborating around a whiteboard, graphic"
Descriptive alt text — image purpose clear
🔊
"Read our UX/UI Design case study, link"
aria-label — destination and purpose clear
🔊
"Start your project, button"
Accessible name — action immediately understood
🔊
"Email address, required, edit text"
label element — field purpose and requirements clear
🔊
"Navigation landmark — 4 items"
nav role — structure announced, user can skip ahead
Every element meaningful — page fully navigable by screen reader
1.1.1
Non-text Content
1.3.1
Info & Relationships
4.1.2
Name, Role, Value
2.4.6
Headings & Labels

Tools That Power the Work

Automated scanners catch about 30% of accessibility issues. We combine the best tooling in the industry with manual expert review to find the other 70%.

Issues Best Practices Needs Review
7
Critical
12
Serious
5
Moderate
3
Minor
Critical
Images must have alternate text
Rule: image-alt · WCAG 1.1.1 · 4 elements
Serious
Form elements must have labels
Rule: label · WCAG 1.3.1 · 3 elements
Serious
Color contrast insufficient
Rule: color-contrast · WCAG 1.4.3 · 6 elements
Moderate
Links must have discernible text
Rule: link-name · WCAG 2.4.4 · 2 elements
Automated Auditing

axe DevTools

Deque's industry-leading browser extension for accessibility auditing — catches critical, serious, moderate, and minor WCAG violations with zero false positives and direct WCAG criterion references.

ritnerdigital.com
Analyze
Summary
6 Errors
!
9 Alerts
14 Features
22 Structural
4 Contrast
Details
Missing alt text
4 instances
Empty button
2 instances
Low contrast text
4 instances
Visual Evaluation

WAVE

WebAIM's WAVE tool overlays accessibility icons directly on your page — making errors, alerts, and structural elements immediately visible in their page context, not just in a list.

Active
Speech Output
"Navigation landmark — 4 items"
"Home, link"
"Services, link"
"Contact, link"
Virtual Cursor Position
Elementa (link)
Rolelink
Name"Contact"
Statefocusable
Heading List (H key to navigate)
H1 — Web Design That Converts
H2 — What We Deliver
H2 — Sound Familiar?
H2 — Contact Us
Screen Reader

JAWS

The world's most widely used screen reader — we test with JAWS on Windows to validate real-world experience for blind and low-vision users navigating with keyboard and virtual cursor commands.

iPhone — iOS 17
Get Started
"Get Started — button — double tap to activate"
Rotor
Headings
Links
Form Controls
Landmarks
Screen Reader

VoiceOver

Apple's built-in screen reader on iOS and macOS — we test with VoiceOver on both iPhone and Mac to ensure your site works for the millions of Apple users who depend on it daily.

Foreground
#525252
Background
#FFFFFF
7.07:1
Contrast ratio
AA Normal text
Requires 4.5:1
Pass
AA Large text
Requires 3:1
Pass
AAA Normal text
Requires 7:1
Pass
AAA Large text
Requires 4.5:1
Pass
Color vision simulation
Normal
Deuteranopia
Protanopia
Tritanopia
Color & Contrast

Colour Contrast Analyser

TPGI's precision contrast checker — tests foreground/background combinations against WCAG AA and AAA thresholds, with color blindness simulations for deuteranopia, protanopia, and tritanopia.

ritnerdigital.com
90
Performance
97
Accessibility
98
SEO
100
Best Practices
Accessibility — 4 items need attention
Background and foreground colors do not have sufficient contrast ratio
Image elements do not have [alt] attributes
Document has a <title> element
Heading elements appear in sequentially-descending order
Accessibility Scoring

Lighthouse

Google's built-in auditing tool scores your site across performance, accessibility, SEO, and best practices — giving a quick baseline with specific, actionable audit items to fix.

Accessibility Statement

An accessibility statement is one of the most underutilized tools in ADA defense. It signals good faith, documents your compliance posture, and gives users a direct channel to request accommodations — all of which matter significantly if you ever face a lawsuit or demand letter.

Documents your WCAG conformance level and known limitations
Provides a feedback mechanism — legally relevant in ADA defense
Required for Section 508 compliance and many enterprise contracts
Demonstrates ongoing commitment — not just a one-time audit
Explore Accessibility Statements →
🔒 yoursite.com/accessibility
Accessibility Statement
Last updated March 15, 2025
WCAG 2.1 AA — Partially Conformant
Our Commitment
Ritner Digital is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We continually improve the user experience for everyone and apply relevant accessibility standards.
Conformance Status
Standard
WCAG 2.1
Level
AA
Status
Partial
Known Limitations
Third-party video embeds
Some embedded videos may lack captions. We are working with providers to resolve this.
Legacy PDF documents
PDFs published before 2023 may not be fully accessible. Contact us for an accessible version.
Feedback & Contact
We welcome feedback on the accessibility of this site. If you experience barriers, please contact us:
accessibility@yoursite.com
(703) 420-9757
We aim to respond within 2 business days.

From the Blog

View All Posts →

Ready to Make Your Site Accessible?

Tell us about your project and we'll be in touch shortly.

Email
hello@ritnerdigital.com
Location
Serving clients nationwide

Accessibility & ADA FAQs

Common questions from businesses navigating web accessibility compliance, legal exposure, and WCAG requirements.

For most businesses that serve the public, yes. Courts have consistently ruled that the ADA applies to websites as places of public accommodation — even without a physical storefront. Government entities have additional requirements under Section 508 and, as of April 2026, must meet WCAG 2.1 AA under updated DOJ rules. If your site serves the public, it can be sued regardless of your size or industry.
No — and this is one of the most dangerous misconceptions in the industry. Overlay widgets like AccessiBe, UserWay, and similar tools do not make your site accessible. They patch the surface while leaving the underlying code broken. Courts have not accepted overlays as a defense, the DOJ has indicated they are insufficient, and the disability community actively opposes them. They also introduce their own accessibility bugs. The only real fix is remediating the underlying code.
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — the international standard for web accessibility, currently at version 2.1. There are three conformance levels: A (minimum), AA (standard), and AAA (enhanced). WCAG 2.1 AA is the accepted legal benchmark in the United States and is what the DOJ, Section 508, and most enterprise contracts require. Level AAA is aspirational and not required for compliance.
Not necessarily. Automated tools like Lighthouse, WAVE, and axe catch roughly 30% of accessibility issues — the ones that can be detected programmatically. The other 70% require human review: testing with actual screen readers, keyboard navigation, and cognitive load evaluation. A green score from an automated scanner is a useful starting point, not a compliance certification. Many sites that have been successfully sued had passing automated scores.
A proper WCAG 2.1 AA audit covers every page and component on your site — automated scanning, manual keyboard navigation testing, screen reader testing with JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver, color contrast evaluation, form and error handling review, reading order verification, and ARIA implementation assessment. You receive a detailed report mapping each issue to its WCAG criterion, severity level, and a specific remediation recommendation.
It depends on the size and condition of the site. A focused audit with a remediation plan typically takes 1–2 weeks. Full remediation of a small-to-medium site runs 4–8 weeks. Larger sites with many pages, complex forms, or embedded third-party content take longer. We always prioritize the highest-severity issues first so you're reducing your legal exposure immediately, not waiting for a full project completion.
First, don't ignore it — the clock is ticking. Consult an ADA attorney if you haven't already. Then engage an accessibility specialist to begin a documented remediation effort as quickly as possible. Courts look favorably on defendants who respond promptly and in good faith. A documented audit, a remediation plan, and an accessibility statement all demonstrate good faith effort — which can significantly affect the outcome of a lawsuit or settlement.
A WCAG audit starts at a few hundred dollars for smaller sites. Full remediation — fixing the issues found in the audit — runs $2,000–$8,000+ depending on the number of pages, complexity of components, and how far from compliance the site currently is. Ongoing monitoring retainers start lower. Compared to the cost of an ADA lawsuit settlement, which averages $25,000–$100,000+ when all fees are included, remediation is one of the highest-ROI investments a business can make.