How to make your website accessible, with ADA and WCAG basics for businesses
A practical guide to WCAG 2.2 AA for business websites, covering the most common failures, how to test, why overlays fall short and where the law stands.
On this page11 sections
- What "accessible" means, and who it's for
- The standard: WCAG 2.2 Level AA
- Where the law stands, as of September 2026
- The most common accessibility failures
- How to make a website accessible: a practical checklist
- Why overlays don't fix it
- How to test your site
- Fixing an existing site: where to spend first
- What we'd do
- Where to start
- Frequently asked questions
Short answer
Build and fix your site to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. In practice that means real text alternatives for images, readable contrast, everything usable by keyboard, labeled forms, captions on video and a clear heading structure. Test with automated tools, a keyboard and a screen reader, fix your templates first, and skip overlay widgets that promise one-line compliance.
If you're wondering how to make a website accessible, you're asking at the right time. Federal rules for state and local governments are coming into force, private lawsuits are rising, and the work itself is well understood. Most accessibility problems are ordinary design and coding mistakes with known fixes.
This post is practical guidance, not legal advice. If you have a legal question or a demand letter, talk to a lawyer.
What "accessible" means, and who it's for
An accessible website works for people with disabilities, including people who:
- Are blind or have low vision and use screen readers or magnification
- Are deaf or hard of hearing and rely on captions and transcripts
- Can't use a mouse and navigate by keyboard, switch or voice
- Have cognitive or learning disabilities and need clear structure and language
It also helps everyone else: someone reading in bright sunlight, holding a phone in one hand, or watching a video on mute on a train.
The standard: WCAG 2.2 Level AA
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), published by the W3C, are the standard almost everyone points to. They're organized into success criteria at three levels: A, AA and AAA. Level AA is the usual target for businesses and governments.
The current version, WCAG 2.2, became a W3C Recommendation on October 5, 2023. The W3C's summary of what's new explains that it keeps the 2.1 criteria (minus one obsolete criterion, Parsing) and adds new ones, including:
- Focus Not Obscured (Minimum). Sticky headers and cookie banners can't completely hide the element a keyboard user is on.
- Target Size (Minimum). Clickable targets should be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with some exceptions.
- Dragging Movements. Anything you can drag must also work without dragging.
- Accessible Authentication (Minimum). Logins can't depend on a memory or puzzle test without an alternative.
- Redundant Entry and Consistent Help, both at Level A.
Because 2.2 builds on 2.1, a site that meets 2.2 AA also meets 2.1 AA.
Where the law stands, as of September 2026
This changes, so here is the short version with sources.
- State and local governments (ADA Title II). The Department of Justice published a rule on April 24, 2024 adopting WCAG 2.1 AA for government websites and apps. On April 20, 2026, an interim final rule extended the compliance dates to April 26, 2027 for entities serving 50,000 people or more, and April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special districts.
- Businesses open to the public (ADA Title III). The DOJ's 2022 web accessibility guidance says the ADA applies to the websites of businesses open to the public, but that the department "does not have a regulation setting out detailed standards." It points to WCAG and the federal Section 508 standards as helpful guidance.
- Lawsuits. Seyfarth Shaw's ADA Title III blog counted 3,117 federal website accessibility lawsuits in 2025, up from 2,452 in 2024, and notes that state court cases and demand letters aren't included.
- Selling to Europe. The European Accessibility Act has applied since June 28, 2025 to many products and services sold in the EU, including ecommerce.
The practical takeaway for most businesses: WCAG 2.2 AA is the sensible target, whether or not a specific rule names it for you.
The most common accessibility failures
The WebAIM Million report tests the home pages of the top one million websites every year. The February 2026 edition found detectable WCAG failures on 95.9% of them, averaging 56.1 errors per page. The most common failure types were:
These are fixable. Most of them come from templates and content habits, which is good news: fix the template once, and every page built on it improves.
How to make a website accessible: a practical checklist
Structure
- One
h1per page, then headings in a logical order. Don't pick heading levels for their size - Set the page language in the HTML, which also fixes the "missing document language" error
- Give every page a unique, descriptive title
- Use real lists, tables and buttons instead of styled
divs
Images
- Describe what a meaningful image shows or does, in context
- Give decorative images an empty alt attribute so screen readers skip them
- Never put important text inside an image without the same text on the page
Color and contrast
- Body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, and large text at least 3:1
- Don't use color alone to show meaning, like a red border as the only sign of an error
- Check contrast on hover, focus and disabled states, not just the default
Keyboard and focus
- Every link, button, menu and form control must work with the keyboard alone
- Keep a visible focus outline. Removing it is a common design mistake
- Add a "skip to content" link at the top
- Make sure menus, modals and carousels don't trap keyboard focus
- Check that sticky headers don't cover the focused element
Forms
- A visible label on every field, connected to it in the code. Placeholder text isn't a label
- Error messages in text that say what went wrong and how to fix it
- Don't make people re-enter information they already gave you in the same process
Links and buttons
- Link text that makes sense out of context. "Read our pricing guide," not "click here"
- Accessible names on icon-only buttons, like menu, search and close. Empty buttons and links are among the top failures
- Targets at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels. We aim higher, at 44 pixels, on touch screens
Video and audio
- Captions on every video with speech, and transcripts for audio
- No autoplaying sound
- A way to pause anything that moves for more than a few seconds
Zoom and reflow
- Text that can be zoomed to 200% without breaking the layout
- Content that reflows to a narrow screen without sideways scrolling
Documents
- PDFs that are tagged and readable, or better, the same content as an HTML page
Why overlays don't fix it
Accessibility overlays are widgets that add a toolbar or claim to repair a site automatically with one line of code. They can't fix missing labels, broken keyboard flows or meaningless link text reliably, because those problems live in the site's structure and content.
Regulators have noticed. In January 2025, the FTC announced an order requiring an overlay company to pay $1 million over claims that its AI tool could make any website WCAG compliant. The fix is in the code and the content.
How to test your site
No single tool is enough. Combine these:
- Automated checkers. Free tools such as WAVE, axe or Lighthouse catch issues like missing alt text, contrast and labels. They can't judge whether alt text is accurate or a flow makes sense.
- The keyboard test. Put the mouse away and use Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter and Space to complete your main tasks: navigate, fill the contact form, check out.
- A screen reader. VoiceOver is built into Macs and iPhones, and NVDA is free on Windows. Try listening to your home page and your contact form.
- The zoom test. Zoom to 200% and check that nothing overlaps or disappears.
- Real people. If you can, include people with disabilities in testing. They'll find problems no checklist does.
The W3C's Easy Checks guide walks through quick manual checks anyone can do.
Fixing an existing site: where to spend first
You don't need to fix everything at once. Prioritize by impact:
- Templates and shared components. Header, navigation, footer, buttons and forms appear on every page. Fix them once.
- Key tasks. Contact forms, booking, checkout, donation and login flows. These are where people get stuck and where complaints start.
- High-traffic pages. Use your analytics to find the pages most people see.
- Content habits. Give editors an alt text field they can't skip and a short checklist for headings and link text.
- An accessibility statement with a way to report problems, and a commitment to respond.
When we rebuilt MKB Company's site, that meant real alt text for 208 images, and all 18 templates measured at phone size (390 by 844 pixels): no sideways scrolling, no text under 12.5px and every tap target at least 44 pixels.
What we'd do
If we were starting on an existing site tomorrow, we'd run an automated scan to size the problem, do a keyboard and screen reader pass on the five most important tasks, and then fix templates before touching individual pages. For a new site, we'd build to WCAG 2.2 AA from the first wireframe, because accessibility is far cheaper to design in than to retrofit.
Where to start
Today, try the keyboard test on your contact form. If you can't reach the submit button, or you can't see where you are on the page, you've found your first fix.
When you're ready for a site built accessible from the start, our web design service builds to WCAG 2.2 AA. For mission-driven organizations, our post on nonprofit website design covers accessibility alongside donations and volunteers. Or send us your site and we'll tell you where we'd begin.
Frequently asked questions
Does my small business website have to be accessible?
The DOJ's position is that the ADA applies to websites of businesses open to the public, even though there's no detailed technical regulation for businesses. Whether and how that applies to your situation is a legal question, so ask a lawyer.
Does accessibility help SEO?
Many accessibility fixes also make pages easier for search engines to understand: descriptive alt text, a real heading structure, meaningful link text and transcripts for video.
Can't we just install an accessibility plugin?
Plugins that fix specific things, like adding a skip link, can help. Tools that promise automatic compliance can't fix the structural problems that matter most.
