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Is your website legal in all 50 states? Accessibility laws are changing fast

Written by:
Adam Safar for Clym
November 6, 2025
dotshock // Shutterstock

Is your website legal in all 50 states? Accessibility laws are changing fast

In 2024, U.S. business owners and website operators faced more than 4,000 lawsuits alleging inaccessible digital services, a clear signal that website accessibility is no longer just “good practice,” but increasingly a legal imperative. The question now is whether your organization’s website, while accessible in one state, is legally compliant in all 50.

According to research from digital compliance platform Clym, you could have exposure, and a rapidly growing risk.

A National Climb Toward Digital Accessibility

The core U.S. civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), already prohibited disability discrimination in public and private services. But because the statute was drafted in 1990, it never explicitly addressed websites or mobile apps. In recent years, however, regulators and courts have moved to apply its principles to the web.

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) published a final rule under ADA Title II of the ADA requiring state and local governments’ web content and mobile apps to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA within a two- to three-year window. That means public agencies must meet a defined technical benchmark, a major shift in the legal landscape.

Meanwhile, on the private-sector side (Title III), no comparable final rule has yet been issued, but litigation has surged. One report showed 2,452 federal website-accessibility lawsuits in 2024 alone.

In light of all of the above, the message to businesses is clear: Even if federal regulation remains indirect, enforcement is already active.

State Laws, Litigation and Patchwork Risks

With federal standards still evolving, many states have moved ahead with their own digital-accessibility statutes or guidelines. This creates a “patchwork” of obligations and enforcement mechanisms that businesses operating across multiple states must navigate.

Key figures to know

  • One source shows “over 4,000 lawsuits filed in state and federal courts” in 2024 on digital-accessibility issues.
  • In federal court filings, website-accessibility lawsuits represented about 28% of all ADA Title III cases that same year.
  • For public-sector entities, compliance deadlines arrive in 2026 and 2027, depending on the population size served.
     

State examples

  • California: Under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, business websites must be accessible, with statutory damages starting at $4,000 per violation.
  • Colorado: House Bill 21-1110 (effective July 2024) requires state agencies and colleges to meet WCAG standards, with fines up to $3,500 per violation.
  • New York: Since 2019, state agencies must conform to WCAG standards; residents may sue businesses under the state’s civil rights law for inaccessible websites.
  • Other states, including Minnesota, Illinois, and Texas, have codified digital-accessibility requirements through administrative codes or state statutes.

The takeaway: Depending on where your organization is headquartered and where your audience lives, you may face differing legal obligations.

What’s at Risk for Businesses

Accessible websites aren’t just the right thing to do; they’re a business-risk item.

  • Demographics: Over one in four U.S. adults has a disability, according to federal data.
  • Lawsuits: Thousands of accessibility-related suits are filed each year, with California and New York leading the pack.
  • Costs: Even modest settlements often lead to tens of thousands of dollars in legal and remediation fees.
  • Reputation: Accessibility failures can spark public backlash and can damage trust.
  • Regulatory momentum: With government deadlines set, private-sector rules are expected to follow.

What Organizations Should Do Now

1. Assess Your Current State

Begin by running an automated scan of your website to identify common accessibility issues, such as missing alt text, low color contrast, navigation barriers, or forms that aren’t compatible with screen readers. Free tools likes web accessibility scanners can provide a quick diagnostic overview, highlighting areas that need attention and helping organizations prioritize remediation efforts.

For developers or agencies building or re-optimizing websites, using an open-source, free accessibility testing suite can help audit sites in development environments and verify compliance across multiple criteria.

These tools often combine automated checks with options for manual testing and can generate audit reports, such as VPATs (Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates), which document how well a digital product aligns with accessibility standards. While automation is an efficient starting point, experts emphasize completing the process with human review and usability testing to create a more accessible, user-friendly experience.

2. Remediate Priority Issues

Tackle the highest-impact barriers first: keyboard navigation, ARIA labels, proper heading structure, form accessibility, and color contrast. Use WCAG 2.1 Level AA as your baseline.

3. Integrate Accessibility into Your Process

Embed accessibility reviews into design and content workflows. Train teams regularly and ensure updates to your website go through accessibility checks before deployment.

4. Document Your Efforts

Maintain records of audits, fixes, and accessibility policies as proof of ongoing compliance. Assign an accessibility lead and track legislative changes in states where you do business.

5. Make Accessibility Ongoing

Digital accessibility is not a one-time project. Standards evolve, WCAG 2.2 and even 3.0 are on the horizon, so plan to review your site periodically and re-scan after every major update.

How to Stay Ahead of Accessibility Requirements

If your website is compliant in one state, that’s a strong start, but not a guarantee of nationwide legality. Federal agencies have set the bar for government websites, and state laws are quickly filling the gaps. Businesses that act now to build accessibility into their digital strategy can avoid litigation, improve user experience, and lead on inclusion.

As 2025 unfolds, the direction is clear: Digital accessibility is moving from optional to mandatory. Scanning, auditing, and remediating your website are practical first steps toward staying ahead of the law and making the web usable for everyone.

This story was produced by Clym and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.


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