7 in 10 ADA Website Lawsuits
Target Online Stores
E-commerce is the most litigated category in ADA web accessibility. Every product image, variant selector, filter, cart interaction, and checkout field is a potential violation. If you sell online, you are in the highest-risk category.
E-Commerce Industry Exposure — By the Numbers
Data from UsableNet, WebAIM and federal court filings. Ecommerce accounted for 69% of ADA web lawsuits in the first half of 2025 and 77% in 2024; among the top 500 ecommerce retailers, 35.8% received at least one ADA lawsuit during 2025.
What Plaintiffs Target on Online Stores
These are the specific WCAG failures cited most frequently in e-commerce ADA complaints.
Product Image Alt Text
Every product photo needs descriptive alt text. Missing alt text across a catalog is among the most frequently cited violations, and WebAIM found it on 53.1% of the million home pages it scanned in February 2026. Color swatches and zoom images need accessible alternatives too.
Checkout Forms
Every field must be labeled, errors identified programmatically, required fields announced. Who can fix that depends on your platform. On WooCommerce the checkout is PHP in your own theme and plugins, so we remediate it directly. On Shopify the checkout is Shopify’s code: its UI extensions run in a sandboxed Web Worker with no access to the checkout DOM, and extensions for the information, shipping and payment steps are Plus-only. No vendor can remediate that checkout, including us — we record it in your VPAT as a platform dependency instead of pretending otherwise.
Filters & Faceted Nav
Price sliders, size selectors, color filters, and category navigation must be keyboard-operable. Most e-commerce filter implementations fail this entirely.
Cart & Quick View
Cart drawers, quantity adjusters, and quick-view modals must manage focus correctly. Add-to-cart confirmations must be announced to screen readers.
Keyboard Navigation
Every interactive element must be operable without a mouse. Product grids, variant selectors, accordion details, tabs, and mega menus are frequent failures.
Color Contrast
Sale badges, price text, promotional banners, and CTA buttons frequently fail WCAG contrast ratios. "Add to Cart" buttons on colored backgrounds are a common violation.
E-Commerce Accessibility Services
Scoped for online stores on Shopify and WordPress/WooCommerce. Those two, deliberately — it is why we know where each failure comes from.
Full WCAG 2.2 Audit
Every template you control: homepage, collections, product pages, cart, account and search. On WooCommerce that includes checkout; on Shopify checkout belongs to Shopify and is documented rather than audited as yours. Every violation mapped to its WCAG criterion with severity and legal exposure.
Source Remediation
Fixes in your actual theme source — Liquid sections and snippets on Shopify, PHP templates in a child theme on WooCommerce. Product images get real alt text. Variant pickers and quantity steppers get accessible names. Cart drawers get focus management. No overlays.
Accessibility Test Record
Dated documentation for legal defense, enterprise procurement and RFP responses. It names the platform and theme versions in place on the test date, which is what a reviewer asks for.
Ongoing Monitoring
New products, seasonal pages, and content updates introduce new violations. Monthly monitoring catches them before they become legal exposure. $450/month. Unlike automated overlay widgets, this is a real expert re-review. Cancel anytime.
E-Commerce Is the Most Litigated Category
About 70% of ADA web lawsuits. Every product, every filter, every variant picker. Start with a 3-minute assessment — we respond with a written proposal.
Some small businesses may qualify for the federal Disabled Access Credit — ask your tax professional.