The short answer
In 2025, 3,117 website accessibility lawsuits were filed in US federal courts under ADA Title III, 36% of all Title III suits and 27% more than in 2024, according to Seyfarth Shaw. Claims usually cite WCAG failures such as missing alt text, unlabelled form fields, keyboard traps and low contrast. Fixing those, publishing an accessibility statement and testing key journeys lowers the risk.
Key takeaways
- Seyfarth Shaw counted 8,667 ADA Title III lawsuits in federal courts in 2025, 2% fewer than 2024; 3,117 of them were about websites, up 27%.
- California (3,252), Florida (1,823) and New York (1,471) led all Title III filings in 2025.
- There is no DOJ technical web rule for private businesses under Title III; courts and DOJ guidance use WCAG as the benchmark.
- In California, an ADA violation is also an Unruh Act violation, with $4,000 minimum statutory damages.
- Overlay widgets don't make a site conformant; fixing the markup does.
On this page
01
How many ADA website lawsuits are filed?
3,117
website accessibility suits in US federal courts, 2025
+27%
website suits compared with 2024
36%
of all ADA Title III federal suits were about websites
8,667
ADA Title III federal suits in total, 2025
These are Seyfarth Shaw's counts of suits filed in or removed to federal court. They don't include claims filed in state courts or settled after a demand letter, so the real number of claims is higher. In 2024, website suits were 2,452 of 8,800 Title III federal suits (28%).
| State | Filings |
|---|---|
| California | 3,252 |
| Florida | 1,823 |
| New York | 1,471 |
02
Why do websites get sued under the ADA?
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act covers businesses open to the public. Courts have applied it to websites and apps, particularly when they connect to goods or services the business offers. The Department of Justice has not adopted a technical web standard for private businesses under Title III (its 2024 rule covers state and local governments under Title II), so plaintiffs and courts use WCAG as the measure.
- Images without text alternatives, so screen reader users can't tell what a product photo or button shows (WCAG 1.1.1).
- Form fields without labels, so sign-up, contact and checkout forms can't be completed with a screen reader (1.3.1, 3.3.2).
- Keyboard traps and missing focus, so people who don't use a mouse get stuck (2.1.1, 2.4.7).
- Low contrast text that's hard to read for people with low vision (1.4.3).
- Videos without captions (1.2.2).
03
What should I do if I receive an ADA demand letter?
- 01
Don't ignore it, and don't panic
Note any deadline in the letter and speak to a lawyer who handles accessibility claims. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
- 02
Record the site as it was
Save the pages and the date the letter refers to, so your lawyer can see what the claimant saw.
- 03
Find and fix the failures
Run an accessibility test, fix what it finds, and test key journeys with a keyboard and a screen reader. Keep a dated record of each fix.
- 04
Publish an accessibility statement
Say what standard you aim for, what you've done, and how people can report barriers and get help.
04
How can a small business lower its ADA website risk?
- 1Test against WCAG 2.2 AA, starting with sign-up, contact and checkout. See the accessibility checklist.
- 2Fix the markup: alt text, labels, focus, contrast and captions. Overlays don't fix underlying code; the FTC's $1 million settlement with accessiBe in January 2025 concerned claims that its tool could make any site compliant.
- 3Publish an accessibility statement with a contact for reporting barriers.
- 4Re-test after every release, because new pages and components bring new failures.
- 5Keep records of tests and fixes, with dates.
SafeLaunch's free accessibility checker flags images without alt text, unlabelled fields and missing page language from your page source. Paid audits test the rendered page with axe-core against WCAG 2.2 AA in a real browser, map each failure to the ADA and Unruh Act, and give the code fix and a prompt for your AI builder.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Sources and further reading
- Seyfarth Shaw: federal court website accessibility lawsuit filings in 2025
- Seyfarth Shaw: ADA Title III federal lawsuit filings in 2025 (JD Supra)
- ADA.gov: guidance on web accessibility and the ADA
- W3C: WCAG 2.2
This article is general information, not legal advice. SafeLaunch is automated software, not a law firm; a report records what was checked on one version and is not a certificate of compliance. Read the disclaimer.
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