ADA Compliance Fines: What are the Penalties for ADA Violations?

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More than just a slap on the wrist, ADA fines can derail your finances, damage your reputation, and drag your business through costly legal battles. Therefore, ignoring accessibility is a gamble no business can afford. In this article, we’ll break down the true cost of non-compliance, look at some real-world case studies, and explain how you can protect your business from hefty fines.

What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is an American law that was enacted in 1990 to serve the disabled community. It was designed to equalize opportunities for those who struggle with visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments.

In practical terms, the ADA mandates that organizations, both public and private, make their products, services, and facilities accessible across a broad range of sectors.

The law is structured into five key focus areas, called titles:

Title I: Employment – Prohibits discrimination in hiring, promotions, and workplace accommodations.
Title II: Public Services – Ensures state and local government services are accessible.
Title III: Public Accommodations – Requires any business that is open to the public to provide equal access to its customers.
Title IV: Telecommunications – Mandates accessible communication, such as closed captioning.
Title V: Miscellaneous Provisions – Covers additional legal aspects of ADA enforcement, such as protection against retaliation.

Title III specifically has received a lot of attention in recent years. That is because ‘public accommodations’ has increasingly been interpreted by courts of law to include websites and mobile applications. Since then, web-related ADA lawsuits have skyrocketed. In 2024 alone, 4,000 cases were filed throughout the U.S.

This has been a game-changer for the ADA and the entities it regulates. If your website isn’t accessible to users with disabilities, meaning it lacks screen reader compatibility, alternative text for images, keyboard navigation, and other critical features, you could face some hefty fines.

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What are the ADA fines for non-compliance?

Failure to comply with Title III of the ADA can incur federal fines. Maximum penalties can be anywhere in the range of $55,000 to $75,000 for a first violation, or up to $150,000 for subsequent violations.

Some states have their own accessibility laws that can impose additional fines and legal actions. California, for example, has the Unruh Civil Rights Act, which allows plaintiffs to claim damages of at least $4,000 per violation.

Even if an ADA lawsuit doesn’t result in a fine, settlements can cost businesses tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and remediation costs.

Who needs to comply with ADA standards to avoid fines?

ADA compliance is rather broad and all-encompassing. Unlike other kinds of accessibility laws, it doesn’t just apply to public entities alone, or indeed private businesses. In fact, each of the act’s titles outlines specific criteria, organization types, and sectors to which the ADA applies. This section unpacks those titles for you.

Title I: Employers with 15 or more employees

If your business has 15 or more employees, you are required to provide accessible hiring processes, workplace accommodations, and accessible digital platforms for internal communication and training. This involves making job postings, application forms, and interviews accessible. It also means employees with disabilities must have the same access to advancement opportunities as their non-disabled peers, and that discrimination should be rooted out of the employment lifecycle altogether.

Title II: State and local government websites

Public entities, including state agencies, universities, and local government offices, must ensure their websites and digital services are fully accessible to people with disabilities. This includes providing alternative text for images, ensuring compatibility with screen readers, and maintaining proper color contrast for readability.

Title III: Public-facing businesses

Title III refers to public accommodations. A public accommodation is any business, website, or facility that serves the general public, including ecommerce stores, restaurants, hotels, and many others. Crucially, public accommodations are not limited only to physical locations but include digital spaces as well.

Title IV: Telecommunications companies

Companies providing video and phone services must comply with ADA requirements, including providing closed captions and relay services for users with hearing impairment.

What are the other penalties for organizations that are non-compliant with the ADA?

Financial penalties are just one piece of the broader risk landscape. Beyond direct fines, there are several other risks linked to ADA non-compliance. Although slightly less tangible, these risks are by no means less impactful.

Legal action and lawsuits

Lawsuits related to ADA violations have skyrocketed in recent years. Businesses in industries such as e-commerce, healthcare, and hospitality are frequent targets of litigation. Beyond fines and legal costs, these lawsuits can result in expensive overhauls or retroactive action, diverting budget and resources away from existing projects.

Damage to brand reputation

Failing to comply with the ADA is failure to accommodate users with disabilities. Once uncovered, this can, and often does, lead to negative press, social media backlash, and public scrutiny. This can deter new customers from giving you their business, while giving existing customers all the more reason to pack up and leave.

Loss of customers and revenue

Studies show that people with disabilities and their families represent a global market of over $2.6 trillion in disposable income. If your website isn’t accessible, you could be alienating a significant customer base and losing sales to ADA-compliant competitors.

Increased regulatory oversight

Repeated violations can lead to stricter oversight from regulatory agencies, requiring more frequent audits and compliance checks. This heightened scrutiny can result in additional costs as well as operational disruptions.

Examples of real ADA fines that have been awarded in court

Over the years, countless businesses have been subject to financial penalties and other consequences. These cases highlight the real-world consequences of ADA non-compliance and serve as a warning for businesses that have yet to invest in accessibility. To illustrate this more clearly, let’s examine a few real-life lawsuit examples.

National Federation of the Blind v Target Corporation

In 2006, the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), along with individual plaintiffs, initiated a landmark class action lawsuit against Target Corporation, alleging that the retailer’s website was inaccessible to blind users.

The plaintiffs contended that Target’s website lacked features necessary for compatibility with screen readers, thereby preventing visually impaired individuals from independently navigating or making purchases online.

At the crux of the lawsuit was a question around whether the ADA and California state laws pertaining to accessibility extended to digital platforms. Target argued that the ADA’s provisions were limited to physical spaces and did not encompass websites.

However, in a pivotal decision, the court held that if a website’s inaccessibility impedes the full and equal enjoyment of goods and services offered in physical stores, it may constitute a violation of the ADA. Notably, this was one of the first major cases involving digital accessibility under the ADA.

Target ultimately agreed to a settlement that included:

Financial compensation: Target created a $6 million fund to compensate members of the California settlement class.
Website accessibility enhancements: The retailer committed to making its website fully accessible to blind users by February 2009, ensuring compatibility with screen-reading software and adherence to recognized accessibility standards.
Ongoing monitoring and training: Target agreed to regular accessibility testing and training for its web developers to maintain compliance and prevent future accessibility barriers.

This case was instrumental in highlighting the ADA’s applicability to digital environments, setting a new precedent for online accessibility. It emphasized the necessity for businesses to ensure their websites are accessible to all users, reinforcing that digital spaces are extensions of physical public accommodations.

U.S. v Spanish Schoolhouse

Spanish Schoolhouse, a Texas-based preschool chain, was reported to have violated the ADA by rejecting the admission of a student based on their disability. The allegation was brought forward by the parents of the child.

Despite the school citing staff discomfort and inadequate resources to manage potential seizures as reasons for the child’s admission rejection, the U.S. Department of Justice asserted that the school’s decision constituted discrimination under Title III of the ADA.

As such, a settlement agreement was reached, involving several corrective measures:

Non-discrimination policy: The school agreed to adopt and enforce a policy prohibiting discrimination based on disability, ensuring equal access to its programs and services.
Reasonable modifications: The school also committed to making necessary adjustments in its policies, practices, or procedures to accommodate individuals with disabilities, unless such modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of its services.
Staff training: Spanish Schoolhouse agreed to provide ADA compliance training for its personnel, focusing on effectively interacting with and accommodating individuals with disabilities.
Monetary compensation: The school consented to compensate the affected child’s parents with $5,000 for damages incurred due to the alleged discrimination.

This case is a prime example of how one ADA violation can soon lead to a series of costly overhauls and financial penalties.

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How to avoid receiving an ADA compliance fine

So, how can you avoid ADA compliance fines and settlements? By proactively addressing accessibility barriers before they become violations. Outlined below are four key steps to help keep your website compliant.

1. Run an ADA Compliance Audit of your website

Start by analyzing your website’s current accessibility status. To do this, use automated tools like an accessibility checker to identify key problem areas such as missing alt text, poor color contrast, and keyboard navigation issues. This helps build up a clear picture of your website’s shortcomings, giving you an obvious starting point to direct your accessibility efforts.

2. Use the findings to implement change

Using the results of your audit, begin making fixes according to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 AA — the gold standard of all things digital accessibility. Think of WCAG 2.1 AA as a roadmap toward ADA compliance. Common fixes include: adding alt text to images, ensuring sufficient color contrast in text, enabling keyboard navigation, and making forms screen-reader friendly.

3. Monitor your website for ADA compliance regularly

Once fixes have been implemented, you must continuously monitor your website to maintain accessibility into the distant future. Schedule regular audits, particularly after any significant website design changes or updates to accessibility regulations. Like this, you can ensure your website remains compliant in a dynamic and ever-changing environment.

4. Develop your knowledge of ADA through additional training

Last but not least, invest in employee training. This helps instill a strong sense of inclusivity in your team, where everyone is on high alert for ADA violations. Training can include sessions on unconscious bias, inclusive design, or WCAG best practices, all of which help protect your business against future accessibility issues.

Conclusion: ADA compliance is the right thing to do for your business

Avoiding fines is only one piece of the puzzle. Accessibility is also about setting a precedent of equality and fairness, ensuring that everyone has access to the information, products, and services they need. Beyond compliance, it’s a commitment to doing the right thing, strengthening your brand and protecting your business in the process.

Don’t wait for a lawsuit to take action, start making your website ADA-compliant today!

Need more help becoming ADA compliant?

The following resources are packed full of actionable tips and expert advice for making your digital content compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act: