When a business is hit with an ADA website accessibility lawsuit, the costs can be more than just financial—they can ripple through development timelines, legal budgets, and brand reputation. And with digital accessibility lawsuits rising yearly, more developers, designers, and product teams are being pulled into legal remediation efforts they didn’t see coming.
But here’s the truth: Not every site needs to achieve 100% WCAG conformance overnight to avoid legal trouble. Smart, risk-aware development teams know how to focus on what matters most—protecting users and reducing legal exposure—without getting bogged down in unnecessary technical perfection.
This article breaks down what ADA settlements typically involve, how to assess legal risk in accessibility work, and when to prioritize critical fixes versus deeper WCAG alignment. Whether you’re retrofitting an existing website or launching something new, understanding the difference between technical and practical compliance can help you make more strategic choices.
What Are ADA Settlements and Why Do They Matter?
An ADA settlement is a legal agreement made outside of court after someone files a complaint or lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, usually regarding a website or app that isn’t accessible to people with disabilities. These agreements typically include:
- A financial payment to the plaintiff (often $5,000–$50,000)
- A commitment to fix specific accessibility barriers
- A timeline for remediation and reporting requirements
- A stipulation to train internal teams on accessibility best practices
Most companies settle because litigation is expensive, time-consuming, and unpredictable. Settling often avoids further public exposure or escalating legal fees—but it still requires swift technical action and long-term accountability.
The Real Costs of ADA Settlements
The direct cost of an ADA settlement can vary, but here’s a realistic breakdown for small to midsize organizations:
- Settlement payout: $5,000–$30,000 (on average)
- Attorney fees (your side): $5,000–$20,000+
- Attorney fees (plaintiff’s side, often paid by you): $5,000–$50,000
- Remediation costs: $5,000–$50,000 depending on site size and complexity
- Training and monitoring costs: Ongoing
Beyond dollars, there’s the cost of dev time, stakeholder panic, potential press coverage, and damage to brand reputation. It’s no wonder more companies are starting to take accessibility seriously before a lawsuit lands on their desk.
The Technical vs. Practical Accessibility Approach
Let’s be clear—full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance is a great long-term goal. But when lawsuits or legal demands hit, the more strategic question becomes: What do we fix first to reduce the most risk, fastest?
Technical Approach
The technical approach focuses on achieving full conformance with WCAG criteria, including:
- Semantic structure (landmarks, headings, ARIA roles)
- Keyboard access for all functionality
- Color contrast and visual design
- Error prevention and accessible forms
- Text alternatives for images, media, and interactive elements
While comprehensive, this approach can be time-consuming and expensive, especially if your site wasn’t built with accessibility in mind.
Practical Approach
The practical approach focuses on real-world usage and risk mitigation, emphasizing:
- High-risk issues likely to appear in a lawsuit (keyboard traps, unlabeled buttons, inaccessible forms)
- Fixes that enable blind, low-vision, and mobility-impaired users to navigate, read, and transact
- Remediating issues cited by popular screen readers (e.g., NVDA, VoiceOver) and automated tools (e.g., Google Lighthouse, WAVE)
This approach doesn’t replace full compliance—it prioritizes it. For many developers under pressure, this is the smarter path in the short term.
How to Identify High-Risk Accessibility Issues
You don’t need to fix every single WCAG failure at once. Start by focusing on the most common issues that trigger ADA lawsuits:
| Issue Type | Description |
| Keyboard Traps | Can’t tab out of a modal or menu |
| Missing Button Labels | Screen readers announce “button” with no context |
| Inaccessible Forms | Fields lack labels, or error messages aren’t announced |
| Poor Color Contrast | Text is unreadable for people with low vision |
| Broken Skip Links | Users can’t bypass repetitive navigation |
| Inconsistent Heading Use | Screen readers can’t navigate efficiently |
| Missing Alt Text | Images lack descriptions for screen reader users |
Each of these can significantly affect usability—and is a frequent target in lawsuits.
Real-World ADA Settlement Outcomes
To understand how this plays out in the wild, here are three simplified examples:
1. Small Retailer Settles for $15K + Fixes
A small e-commerce business received a demand letter after their cart and checkout were found to be inaccessible to keyboard users. They settled for $15,000 and committed to a 90-day remediation plan targeting key transactional flows.
2. Nonprofit Faces Multiple Complaints
A regional nonprofit was hit with three nearly identical lawsuits within six months. They paid over $60,000 total in settlements, then hired an accessibility partner to run audits, update templates, and add ongoing monitoring.
3. Enterprise Brand Chooses Full Compliance
After receiving a lawsuit, a national retailer chose to settle and invest in full WCAG 2.1 AA remediation. The effort took over 9 months but allowed them to build a sustainable accessibility program and avoid future litigation.
How to Strengthen Accessibility and Reduce Legal Risk
Navigating ADA compliance doesn’t require perfection—it requires prioritization. While no one expects your team to fix everything overnight, there are key actions you can take right now to reduce your legal exposure and improve user access:
Get Grounded in WCAG
You don’t need to memorize the entire spec, but your team should understand the fundamentals. Focus on guidelines related to navigation, labeling, and readable text—areas most often cited in ADA settlements.
Run an Audit—Then Act
Automated scans won’t catch everything, but they’re a fast way to surface high-risk gaps like missing alt text or poor contrast. Follow with targeted manual testing or bring in a specialist like 216digital to validate findings and prioritize fixes.
Train the Right Teams
Developers aren’t the only ones who touch your site. Marketing, design, and content teams need basic accessibility training so issues aren’t reintroduced after remediation. This step is often required as part of ADA settlements and signals long-term commitment.
Monitor Continuously
Accessibility is not a “set it and forget it” process. With 216digital’s a11y.Radar, teams can catch regressions early and stay ahead of future lawsuits.
Stay Adaptive
Standards evolve. So should your strategy. Track changes to WCAG and be ready to update design systems, templates, and workflows to maintain long-term compliance.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Wait for a Lawsuit
ADA settlements are a growing risk—but they’re also preventable. Developers and site owners don’t have to boil the ocean to protect themselves. By taking a practical, high-impact approach to accessibility and knowing what issues matter most in legal outcomes, you can avoid major pitfalls while creating better digital experiences for everyone.
The key is to start. Run a scan, fix a few common issues, and build from there. If you’re unsure where to begin, partnering with an accessibility expert like 216digital can guide you through smart remediation strategies that work—before a lawsuit forces your hand.
Need help navigating accessibility risks?
Schedule a free 15-minute ADA briefing with 216digital. We’ll review your site and talk strategy and help you take the first step toward compliance and peace of mind.