About one in four adults in the United States lives with some type of disability. Some use screen readers that read pages aloud, some navigate with a keyboard instead of a mouse, and many simply need larger text or stronger contrast. If your website doesn’t work for them, you’re turning away customers, and you may be taking on legal risk.
What Changed This Month
In 2024, the Department of Justice finalized a rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act requiring state and local government websites and apps to meet the WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standard. The first deadline was set for April 24, 2026. On April 20, 2026, the DOJ issued an interim rule extending those deadlines by one year, to April 26, 2027 for larger governments and April 26, 2028 for smaller ones. The standard itself did not change.
That rule applies to public entities, not private businesses. But it has made WCAG 2.1 AA the clear benchmark for what an accessible website looks like.
What About Private Businesses?
Businesses that serve the public fall under Title III of the ADA. There is no federal regulation spelling out website requirements for private businesses yet, but courts have repeatedly applied the ADA to websites, and thousands of website accessibility lawsuits are filed every year. Small businesses are frequent targets because their sites often have easy-to-spot problems.
This article is general information, not legal advice. If you have specific legal concerns, talk with an attorney.
Common Accessibility Problems
- Images with no alternative (alt) text, so screen readers can’t describe them
- Low-contrast text, like light gray on white
- Forms with missing labels, so users don’t know what to type where
- Menus and buttons that can’t be reached or used with a keyboard
- Videos without captions
- Links that just say “click here” with no context
Practical First Steps
- Run a free scan. Tools like WAVE or Google Lighthouse flag many common issues in minutes.
- Add alt text to meaningful images describing what they show.
- Check color contrast on text, buttons and links.
- Try navigating with only your keyboard using Tab and Enter. Can you reach the menu, forms and buttons?
- Caption your videos and label every form field.
- Be wary of one-click “overlay” widgets. They rarely fix underlying problems and don’t guarantee compliance.
Accessibility Is Good Business
Accessible websites are usually easier for everyone to use. They also tend to perform better in search, because many accessibility best practices, like descriptive headings, alt text and clean code, are the same things search engines reward.
Solnet can review your website for accessibility issues and help you fix them. Contact Solnet or call (301) 939-0273.
