WCAG 2.1 AA · Section 508 · ADA Title III
ADA & WCAG Compliance for Websites
WordPress accessibility beyond the plugin.
A quick patch stops the first letter, not the second. We audit against WCAG 2.1 AA, fix the markup, and document the work.
Source: UsableNet, 2025, Year-End Report.
Our approach
Fixes in the markup, on a staging copy, documented.
We audit against WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard US courts and the DOJ reference. Issues get fixed in the HTML and CSS, tested on staging, and written up so you can show what was done and when. Overlays are a separate conversation, and we’ve put it further down the page.
What we do
The most common accessibility failures we find on WordPress sites.
Missing image alt text
Screen readers rely on alt text to describe images to visually impaired users. Missing or generic alt text (“image1.jpg”) is the most common WCAG failure. We audit every image and write descriptive, meaningful alt text.
Insufficient color contrast
WCAG 2.1 AA requires a 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text and 3:1 for large text. Gray text on white, light text on colored backgrounds, and placeholders that disappear, all common failures we correct.
Form accessibility
Forms without labels, error messages that aren’t announced to screen readers, and required fields that aren’t identified, all of these fail WCAG. We rebuild form markup to meet standards without changing your form’s visual design.
Keyboard navigation
All interactive elements must be reachable and operable by keyboard alone, no mouse required. We test and fix tab order, focus states, skip navigation links, and dropdown menus that trap keyboard users.
Heading structure
Screen readers use heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3) to navigate page structure. Skipped heading levels, decorative headings used for styling, and missing H1 tags all create navigation barriers we fix.
Link and button text
“Click here,” “Read more,” and “Learn more” links provide no context to screen reader users who navigate by links. We audit all links and update them to be descriptive, “Read our WordPress security guide” instead of “Learn more.”
300%
Increase in ADA web lawsuits since 2018
26%
Of U.S. adults live with a disability
$50K+
Typical cost of an ADA lawsuit settlement
WCAG 2.1
The standard courts use to evaluate compliance
Our process
Overlays skip all four of these steps. More on that below.
1
Automated + manual audit
We run Axe, WAVE and Lighthouse, then test by keyboard and screen reader by hand. In our audits, the automated pass surfaces roughly a third of what manual testing finds.
2
Prioritized issue report
We deliver a report categorized by severity: critical (likely to trigger a lawsuit), serious (WCAG AA failure), and moderate (best practice). You see every issue before we touch a line of code.
3
Remediation on staging
We fix issues in HTML, CSS, and WordPress templates on a staging copy of your site. Your live site changes only after you’ve reviewed and approved.
4
Conformance documentation
After remediation, we deliver a VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) document that outlines your site’s WCAG 2.1 AA conformance status, useful if you’re ever challenged legally.
What overlays actually do
Overlay tools promise compliance from a single line of script. In April 2025 the Federal Trade Commission fined accessiBe $1,000,000 over exactly that claim. The FTC found the product “fails or has failed to make basic and essential website components like menus, headings, tables, images, recordings, and more, compliant with WCAG,” and barred the company from claiming WCAG compliance without evidence for the next 20 years.
The wider problem is technical. Injected overlays create ARIA conflicts with screen readers, which is why accessibility researchers and the National Federation of the Blind have argued against them for years. A script layered over inaccessible markup leaves the markup inaccessible.
We fix the code instead.
Pricing
What ADA compliance work costs.
An accessibility audit with a prioritized report is delivered within 5 business days. Audit plus remediation for a small site includes a VPAT conformance document. Larger or more complex sites get a custom quote based on page count and issue volume.
All work is fixed price, agreed before we start.
Our team
WordPress handled by people who understand the code, content, and systems behind it.
Marko
Head of Development
20+ yrs WordPress
Marko
Web Developer
10+ yrs WordPress
Miloš
Web Developer
15+ yrs WooCommerce
Stefan
Web Developer
5+ yrs Elementor
500+
Clients
AA
WCAG 2.1 audit level
5.0
Rating on Clutch
20+
WordPress years on the team
Our work
Some of the brands we have built for.
Common questions
ADA compliance questions, answered directly.
Probably, though the legal basis is case law rather than regulation. The ADA requires places of public accommodation to provide equal access, and courts have increasingly read that to cover websites. The DOJ confirmed the position in 2022 guidance, and in 2024 went further for state and local government, adopting WCAG 2.1 AA as a binding federal standard. For private businesses, rulemaking is paused indefinitely, so exposure comes from plaintiffs rather than regulators. Over 5,000 suits were filed in 2025, and plaintiffs’ firms find targets with automated crawlers, which makes a small business a smaller target rather than an invisible one.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) 2.1 Level AA is what U.S. courts and the DOJ reference, and it is now written into federal regulation: the DOJ’s 2024 Title II rule requires WCAG 2.1 AA for state and local government sites, with deadlines running to April 2027 and 2028. WCAG 2.2 exists, and courts have yet to settle on it. We audit and remediate to 2.1 AA, which is the defensible standard today.
Design, rarely. Most fixes are invisible to sighted users: HTML attributes, ARIA labels, semantic markup. Contrast fixes change colors, which sometimes needs a design decision from you. Performance, no. Semantic markup is lighter than the div-and-script alternatives, and the overlay scripts that promise a shortcut are the thing that actually slows a page down.
Yes. Every new page, plugin or theme change can introduce fresh issues. Our maintenance plans keep plugins, themes and core updated, and we train your content team on the four things that undo remediation fastest: heading order, alt text, link text and contrast. Compliance is a state you hold, not a date you pass.
The price depends on page count and issue volume, and it is fixed in writing before work starts. An audit with a prioritized report is delivered in 5 business days, and remediation for a small site includes the VPAT document. Building accessibility into a new site from the start adds very little, because nothing has to be undone.
The audit takes 5 business days. Remediation runs 2 to 6 weeks, depending on how many issues and pages there are. New builds include accessibility from the first template, so it ships with the site.
No. In April 2025 the FTC fined accessiBe $1,000,000 over that exact claim, finding the tool failed to make menus, headings, tables and images WCAG-compliant. Overlays sit on top of the markup. Compliance comes from the markup. Full detail in the overlays section above.
Yes, and it’s most of what we do. We audit against WCAG 2.1 AA, fix the code-level issues on a staging copy (structure, contrast, keyboard access, forms, alt text), and document what changed and when.
Some of it, yes. Semantic HTML, descriptive link text and a clean heading hierarchy are things crawlers and screen readers both rely on, so that work counts twice. Accessibility is not a ranking factor in its own right, though, and anyone selling it as one is overselling.
Yes. You get a documented audit of what was tested and what was fixed, and we can publish an accessibility statement on the site. Both show what was done and when, which is what good-faith effort looks like on paper. We’re developers rather than lawyers, so if you’re facing a demand letter, that documentation supports your counsel rather than replacing them.
Find out where your site stands.
The free audit takes 2 business days and shows you which issues create real exposure and which are best practice.
