Website Accessibility: Create an Inclusive Experience and Reduce Your Risk

Forget the parking lot—the main point of entry for potential customers is often your business’s website. That means website accessibility matters just as much as the accessibility of your building’s front door.

The tricky part? Accessibility best practices for the web are far less clear-cut than ADA physical accessibility guidelines. Many businesses unintentionally exclude people with disabilities from their online experience, and those barriers can lead to more than just frustration.

In some cases, they have led to lawsuits. Here in St. Louis where GBG is based, several businesses have faced legal claims over inaccessible websites, with some paying settlements up to $15,000 that still did not resolve the underlying problems (St. Louis Magazine, 2025).

In this article, you will learn:

• What website accessibility means
• What the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) says about websites
• The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) that set the standard
• How to mitigate both legal and reputational risks

What Is Website Accessibility?

Website accessibility means that people with visual, motor, auditory, and cognitive disabilities can use your site with ease. This includes:

• Compatibility with screen readers and other assistive technologies
• Keyboard-only navigation for users who cannot use a mouse
• Descriptive alt text for images
• Sufficient color contrast between text and background
• Clear headings, labels, and form instructions

Accessible websites are also easier for older adults, mobile users, and people browsing in challenging environments, which means they benefit every visitor, not just those with disabilities.

What the ADA Requires for Websites

In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a final rule under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act clarifying accessibility requirements for websites and mobile apps provided by state and local governments.

This rule formally adopts WCAG 2.1, Level AA as the technical standard. While aimed at public entities, it signals to private organizations—especially those working with or selling to government agencies—that accessibility compliance is no longer optional.

What Is WCAG 2.1, Level AA?

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These internationally recognized standards focus on four principles: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.

Level AA compliance means your site meets requirements like:

• Text alternatives for non-text content
• Logical heading and content structure
• Minimum color contrast ratios
• Accessible forms and interactive elements
• Video captions and audio descriptions
  

Even if you are not a public agency, following WCAG 2.1 AA is widely considered the baseline for accessibility across industries.

Why Businesses Are Facing More Lawsuits

The ADA was written before websites existed, but courts are increasingly applying it to digital spaces. Because there is no single federal checklist for an “ADA-compliant website”, many organizations unknowingly fall short.

Advocacy-driven lawsuits, sometimes filed in high volumes, are on the rise. If your site is not accessible, you could face:

• Lost revenue from potential customers who cannot navigate your site
• Legal exposure that could cost thousands in settlements and attorney fees
• Reputational damage if the issue becomes public
  

How GBG Helps You Get Accessibility Right

At GBG, we partner with a trusted third-party accessibility firm to conduct comprehensive audits while guiding you through every step of the remediation process. Our approach is modeled after industry standards, including the process we use in our collaborative accessibility audits:

Accessibility Audit

Together with our third-party accessibility partner, we conduct both automated scans using tools such as WAVE and axe DevTools, and manual testing that includes:

• Keyboard-only navigation checks
• Screen reader compatibility testing with NVDA and VoiceOver
• Color contrast compliance reviews
• Logical content structure and ARIA usage assessments

All findings are mapped directly to the WCAG 2.1 AA success criteria so you know exactly where you stand.

Detailed Audit Reporting

You receive a clear, itemized Accessibility Audit Report that:

• Categorizes each issue by severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low)
• Provides preliminary remediation recommendations prioritized by user impact, compliance risk, and implementation effort

Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) and VPAT

We can also prepare an Accessibility Conformance Report and complete a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template based on the audit results. This documentation is increasingly requested by public agencies and large enterprise clients.

Findings Review and Next Steps

We walk you through the audit results, answer your questions, and outline your options for remediation, whether that is a targeted fix or a larger redesign.

Ongoing Monitoring

Accessibility is not a one-time effort. We offer maintenance plans to ensure your site remains aligned with evolving standards, including WCAG updates.

The Business Case for Accessibility

An accessible website:

• Expands your potential audience
• Improves search rankings
• Demonstrates your commitment to equity and inclusion
• Reduces the risk of costly litigation

How to Start Improving Accessibility on Your Own

Not sure where to begin? Start simple. For WordPress sites, we recommend UserWay’s free accessibility plugin. It’s a quick, no-cost way to add baseline features like screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and color contrast tools—improving accessibility for your users right away.

Looking for Broader Coverage?

Both UserWay and AccessiBe offer paid versions that go a step further. These tools inject accessibility fixes via JavaScript, helping your site meet more WCAG requirements automatically. However, those fixes only last as long as the subscription. Remove the plugin, and your site reverts back, non-compliant and potentially at risk.

If you’re aiming for lasting accessibility—built into your site’s code, not layered on top—we can help you get there. Our team blends best-practice remediation with ongoing monitoring so your site stays inclusive, effective, and compliant for the long term.

Plugin vs Built-In Fixes

Feature	Free Plugin (UserWay)	Paid Plugin (Accessibe/UserWay)	Custom Remediation (GBG)
Adds screen reader tools	✅	✅	✅
Fixes code-level issues	❌	✅	✅
Ongoing compliance	❌ (manual)	✅ (while subscribed)	✅
Ownership of solution	✅	❌	✅
Supports RFP/procurement docs	❌	❌	✅ (VPAT/ACR can be included)

Wondering if your website meets accessibility standards?

Book a free accessibility review and we will help you find and fix gaps so your site is more inclusive, effective, and protected.