There is no official ADA certificate, so a website is judged compliant when it meets the WCAG 2.1 AA standard that US courts and the DOJ rely on. The only way to know for sure is to combine an automated scan with manual keyboard and screen-reader testing.
The short answer: you can’t tell from a scan alone
Most business owners want a simple yes or no. The honest answer is that compliance lives on a spectrum, and a single tool can’t measure it. Automated scanners are fast and useful — they flag missing alt text, obvious color-contrast failures, and empty form labels in seconds. But independent research from sources like WebAIM shows automated tools detect only about 30–40% of WCAG success criteria. The rest require a human.
That gap is why a “100% passed” scan badge means very little, and why overlay widgets that promise instant compliance keep failing in court. Real assurance comes from manual testing against the POUR principles — Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust — with the same assistive technology your visitors use.
Quick self-check: 5 signs your site may not be compliant
You can spot many problems yourself in fifteen minutes, no software required. None of these are a substitute for a full accessibility audit, but they tell you whether you have a problem worth taking seriously.
1. Keyboard navigation
Put your mouse away. Press Tab repeatedly and try to use your entire site with only the keyboard.
- Can you reach every link, button, and form field in a logical order?
- Is there a visible focus indicator (an outline or highlight) showing where you are?
- Can you open and close menus, modals, and dropdowns without a mouse?
If you get trapped, lose track of focus, or can’t reach a button, keyboard users — including many screen-reader users — are stuck too. Our keyboard navigation guide covers what good looks like.
2. Alt text on images
Right-click an important image and check whether it has descriptive alt text. Decorative images should have empty alt (alt=""); meaningful images need a concise description. Missing or junk alt text (like IMG_4821.jpg) is one of the most common — and most cited — failures in ADA web lawsuits.
3. Color contrast
Light-gray text on a white background looks elegant and fails real people. WCAG 2.1 AA requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. If you squint to read your own buttons or captions, you likely have a contrast problem. The color contrast guide explains the ratios.
4. Forms and error handling
Click into your contact or checkout form and tab through it.
- Does every field have a visible, programmatic label (not just placeholder text)?
- When you submit with an error, is the message clear and tied to the right field?
- Can a screen-reader user tell what went wrong?
Inaccessible forms block conversions and are a frequent lawsuit trigger. See accessible forms for the details.
5. Headings, landmarks, and structure
Screen-reader users navigate by headings and landmarks the way sighted users skim. If your page jumps from an H1 to an H4, or uses bold text instead of real headings, the structure breaks down. Proper heading structure and landmarks and correct ARIA labels and roles make a page navigable.
How to check ADA compliance properly
A thorough check has three layers. Each catches things the others miss.
| Method | What it catches | What it misses |
|---|---|---|
| Automated scan | Missing alt text, contrast, empty labels, some ARIA errors | Logical reading order, focus traps, meaningful labels, real screen-reader experience |
| Manual keyboard test | Focus order, focus visibility, keyboard traps, operable controls | Audio cues, image meaning, semantic correctness |
| Screen-reader test (NVDA / JAWS / VoiceOver) | How content is actually announced, link/button clarity, form usability | — (this is the closest to a real user’s experience) |
Start with the free accessibility scan to surface the easy wins, then layer in manual testing. The free tools below are good companions:
- WebAIM WAVE — visual, browser-based issue reporting.
- W3C / WAI evaluation resources — the authoritative guidance behind WCAG.
- ADA.gov — the DOJ’s official guidance on web accessibility.
For the deeper version of this process, our walkthrough on how to do an accessibility audit and the difference between automated and manual testing are the next reads.
What “ADA compliant” actually means
The ADA itself doesn’t list technical web rules. In practice, three things define the bar:
- ADA Title III treats most public-facing business sites as places of public accommodation, which is the legal hook for the thousands of ADA web lawsuits filed each year.
- WCAG 2.1 AA is the technical standard courts, settlements, and the DOJ consistently reference. It’s the practical definition of “compliant.”
- Section 508 applies to federal agencies and their vendors and is built on WCAG; if you sell to government, see ADA vs Section 508 vs WCAG.
There are three WCAG conformance levels — A, AA, and AAA. AA is the target for almost every business; AAA is aspirational and not expected site-wide. The conformance levels guide breaks down the difference.
This page is general information, not legal advice. If you’ve received a demand letter or been threatened with a lawsuit, talk to an attorney about your specific situation.
”My scan came back clean” — now what?
A clean automated scan is good news, but it only clears the 30–40% a machine can see. The issues that lead to complaints — focus traps, confusing screen-reader output, unlabeled custom controls, illogical reading order — sit in the part scanners can’t reach. This is exactly where manual accessibility testing earns its keep.
It’s also why we’re firmly anti-overlay. Overlay scripts paint over the surface without fixing the underlying HTML and ARIA, so the barriers a real user hits are still there. The dependable fix is hand-coded accessibility remediation: we correct the actual markup, retest with real assistive technology, and document conformance.
Where to go from here
If you’re a smaller business trying to do this right without overpaying, our guide to ADA compliance for small business maps out a sensible path. When you’re ready to move from guessing to knowing:
- Run a free scan to see your obvious issues today.
- Get a manual audit for the complete, court-relevant picture.
- Fix it by hand so your site is genuinely usable — not just badged.
Compliance isn’t a mystery and it isn’t permanent. Whatever your scan shows, the problems on your site can be found, fixed, and verified.