ADA Accessible Websites: What You Need to Know

ADA accessibility has become the norm for websites and physical spaces to ensure inclusivity for people with disabilities. Meeting these standards not only promotes equal access but also helps organizations avoid legal challenges.

This article explains key concepts and practical steps to help you make your website ADA accessible.

What is ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a law passed in 1990 that protects the rights of people with disabilities. It requires public places and services to be accessible so everyone can use them equally.

What is ADA Compliance?

ADA compliance means following the rules set by the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure that people with disabilities can access and use buildings, websites, products, and services without barriers.

This involves following guidelines like the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure readable text, keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and video captions. It also includes providing a clear structure, sufficient color contrast, and alt text for images and media.

The Legal Landscape of ADA Compliance

As more services move online, courts and regulators increasingly require websites to be accessible to people with disabilities. This legal environment pushes businesses to build inclusive digital experiences to meet legal and ethical standards.

Who Should Follow ADA Requirements?

Any business or organization that offers goods, services, or information online must comply with ADA accessibility standards. This includes online stores, educational sites, government portals, healthcare providers, and more.

While the ADA was created for physical spaces, courts and regulators now expect digital content to be accessible. This includes:

• Websites: All web pages and interactive elements must be usable by people with disabilities.

• Emails: Communications should be readable by screen readers and accessible to all users.
• Videos: Videos need captions and transcripts for users with hearing impairments.
• PDFs and Documents: Digital documents should be properly formatted for screen readers and easy navigation.

• Mobile Apps: Apps must provide accessible navigation, readable text, and support assistive technologies.

All these digital platforms should be designed to accommodate people with vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments.

What Happens If My Website Isn’t ADA Compliant?

Making your website ADA accessible is not only a legal requirement but also a way to improve your reach and better serve all your users.

Here’s what can happen if your website is not ADA accessible:

• Lawsuits and Fines: Businesses can face legal action for not providing accessible digital content. Lawsuits often result in financial penalties and costly settlements.

• Reputation Damage: Negative publicity from lawsuits or complaints can damage your brand’s reputation and erode customer trust.
• Missed Market Opportunities: A non-accessible website can exclude a significant segment of users and limit your potential market reach.

Core Principles of ADA Accessibility

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that digital spaces follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). These guidelines revolve around four key principles, known as the POUR framework, that ensure content is usable for everyone, regardless of their abilities.

• Perceivable: Content and user interface components must be presented in ways that people can recognize, no matter their disabilities. For example, images should have alternative text (alt text) for screen reader users, and videos should include captions for those with hearing impairments.

• Operable: Navigation and interactive features must work for users with different physical or motor abilities. For instance, buttons and links should be large enough to click easily, and users should be able to navigate the site with a keyboard if they can’t use a mouse.
• Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be clear and easy to understand. This involves using plain language, providing clear instructions for forms and actions, and avoiding overly complex designs.
• Robust: Websites must be compatible with a wide range of current and future technologies, including assistive technologies like screen readers. This ensures that the content remains accessible even as devices and software evolve.

How to Make Your Website ADA Accessible?

Accessibility means ensuring your website works for everyone, including people with disabilities. Here are some key features to include:

• Alt Text for Images: Write short descriptions for all images so people who use screen readers can understand what’s there.
• Keyboard Navigation: Make sure users can move around your site using just their keyboard. This helps people who can’t use a mouse.

• Video and Audio Captions: Add text captions or transcripts for any video or audio so people who can’t hear well can still understand the content.
• Color Contrast: Use colors that stand out from each other so that text and buttons are easy to read.

• Accessible Forms: Clearly label forms and give instructions in simple language so everyone knows how to fill them out.
• Clear and Consistent Layout: Keep the same layout and structure on every page so users can easily find what they need.
• Choose Accessible Fonts: Use simple, clean fonts that are easy to read and can be resized for better readability.

Best Practices for ADA Compliance

Follow these best practices to create an inclusive website and comply with ADA rules.

• Start Accessibility Early: Plan for accessibility from the beginning when designing your website or app. If you wait until later, fixing problems becomes harder, takes more time, and costs more money.
• Keep Navigation Simple and Consistent: Organize menus, buttons, and links in a clear, predictable way. When users know where to find things and the layout stays the same across pages, it’s easier for everyone to move around your site without confusion or frustration.
• Use Easy-to-Understand Language: Write content using short sentences and simple words. Avoid complicated phrases or jargon and break long blocks of text into smaller sections with headings, bullet points, or numbered lists. This helps users with cognitive disabilities and makes reading faster for all visitors.
• Train Your Team: Make sure everyone involved in making your website understands accessibility basics. This includes designers, developers, writers, and managers. When everyone knows what to do and why it matters, your site stays accessible even as it grows and changes.

• Update Your Website Often: Accessibility standards can change, and new problems can appear as you add content or features. Check your website regularly to find and fix any issues. Keeping your site updated ensures it remains usable for all visitors.
• Check Your Website on Different Devices: People use different devices to access websites, like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers. To ensure it works well everywhere, perform ADA testing on multiple devices and browsers.

How to Check If Your Website is ADA Accessible Using BrowserStack

Without the right tools, making sure your website meets ADA accessibility standards can be challenging. BrowserStack helps you test your site’s accessibility across multiple devices, browsers, and real-world conditions. This ensures people with disabilities can navigate and use your website smoothly.

BrowserStack Accessibility offers both automated and manual testing options to help identify and fix common accessibility issues early. It supports testing with assistive technologies and keyboard navigation to ensure your site works well for everyone.

Here’s how you can use it:

• Real Device Cloud: See how your site works on various smartphones, tablets, and desktops with different operating systems.
• Screen Reader Testing Support: Access popular screen readers like NVDA or VoiceOver to verify your content is read aloud properly.
• Keyboard Accessibility Testing: Verify that all interactive elements on your website are accessible and usable without a mouse.
• Check Color Contrast: Ensure your site’s colors meet the minimum contrast ratios for readability.
• Automated Accessibility Scans: Detect common ADA and WCAG issues, such as missing alt text and poor color contrast, quickly.

Why Choose BrowserStack for Accessibility Testing?

Accessibility compliance isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about ensuring every user, regardless of ability, can access and interact with your digital products.

BrowserStack Accessibility Testing helps teams stay ahead of compliance requirements across WCAG, ADA, EAA, and 10+ international accessibility laws. Powered by the proprietary Spectra engine, it identifies up to 66% more issues than conventional tools. And with scans running up to 8X faster, it fits seamlessly into fast-moving CI/CD pipelines—helping teams catch and fix accessibility gaps early, before they become costly.

Built for enterprise-scale precision, development agility, and real-world inclusivity, BrowserStack Accessibility Testing empowers teams to deliver accessible digital experiences—right from development through deployment.

• Test on 3500+ real browsers and devices, not just Chrome or emulators—ensuring accuracy across the environments your users use.
• Integrates directly with CI/CD pipelines, making shift-left accessibility testing part of your standard workflow.
• Compliance with global standards like WCAG 2.1/2.2, ADA, Section 508, and AODA.
• Collaborative testing workflows, including detailed logs, exportable reports, and role-based access controls.
• Focus on authentic accessibility, not superficial fixes like UI overlays or automated patches.
• Part of the trusted BrowserStack ecosystem, already used by 50,000+ development teams worldwide.
• Powered by AI, prioritizing critical issues and surfacing trends in complex audits.
• Enhanced by the proprietary Spectra Rule Engine, which uncovers edge-case issues that typical tools overlook.

Core Features Designed for Real-World Accessibility

• Automated Accessibility Testing: Quickly identify WCAG violations with high-speed tests across real browsers and devices, ensuring early detection and code-level accuracy.
• Workflow Analyzer: Scan complete user journeys like sign-up forms or checkout processes, validating accessibility across interactive, multi-step experiences.
• Screen Reader Testing: Validate usability with popular screen readers like NVDA and JAWS, running on real systems to mirror actual assistive tech usage.
• Assisted Tests: Detect complex issues—like keyboard navigation flaws or focus traps—using assisted workflows that go beyond what automation alone can catch.
• Centralized Reporting Dashboard: Track accessibility issues across projects, teams, and time with an intuitive dashboard that supports collaboration and continuous improvement.
• BrowserStack AI for Accessibility: Leverage machine learning to group related issues, recommend fixes, and flag the most critical problems—so teams can resolve what matters most, faster.
• Accessibility Design Toolkit: Help designers make inclusive choices early with tools to test color contrast, typography, and component accessibility during the design phase.

Talk to an Expert

Conclusion

ADA accessible means designing websites and digital content so people with disabilities such as those with vision, hearing, motor, or cognitive challenges can use them. It involves following guidelines like WCAG to remove barriers and make online information and services available to everyone.

Real device testing plays a crucial role in verifying how your website works across different devices, browsers, and assistive technologies. BrowserStack provides access to over 3,500 real devices and browsers to test your website in real user conditions. It offers automated website scanning to detect accessibility issues, supports screen reader testing on actual devices, and enables keyboard navigation checks.

Try BrowserStack Accessibility for Free