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Why I Don’t Say “ADA compliant”

ByRenee Dunn, CPACC Reading Time: 2 minutes

I often see RFPs and requests from organizations who want to make their website “ADA compliant”.  The problem is, there is no technical standard for an “ADA compliant” website, despite all of the AI generated search results you might find.  Instead, I test and build for “WCAG conformance”.

ADA & WCAG: It’s complicated!

The Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are an internationally recognized set of standards that websites and digital content should follow to be considered accessible.  But following WCAG does not automatically equal “ADA compliant”…yet.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, before websites existed.  In 1996, the DOJ said that websites should be accessible and reaffirmed that position in 2022 with a formal Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA.  As part of this guidance, the DOJ acknowledges that WCAG is an available technical standard for accessibility, but states “Businesses and state and local governments can currently choose how they will ensure that the programs, services, and goods they provide online are accessible to people with disabilities.”  They do not require WCAG conformance and they do not state unequivocally that following WCAG makes you “ADA compliant”. 

Two years later, the DOJ issued the first regulation that specifically equated WCAG conformance and ADA compliance – but only for “Title II” entities (state and local governments).  Those regulations were originally set to go into effect starting in April of 2026, but the deadline was recently extended by a year. 

As of now, there is no equivalent linking of WCAG and ADA for Title III businesses – businesses that are open to the public. 

So Why Bother Following WCAG?

There are plenty of reasons to use WCAG as the technical standard for accessibility. 

  1. The regulations for Title II entities set the stage for the eventual roll out to Title III entities.
  2. In many lawsuits brought against inaccessible websites, WCAG is cited as the technical standard that the organization needs to follow to remediate their site.
  3. There are an increasing number of state and international accessibility laws that do specifically require WCAG conformance.  Depending on where your customers are (not where your business is located), your organization may be subject to these laws.

Conclusion

Requiring “ADA compliance” is at the same time both too broad and too narrow of a requirement.  It’s too broad because there’s no defined technical standard to follow, so what constitutes ADA compliance is open for interpretation.  It’s too narrow because it fails to acknowledge other accessibility laws that your organization may be subject to.  Focus on WCAG conformance instead.