Does the ADA apply to an online store with no physical location?
Does the ADA apply to my online store if I have no physical location?
Written by Even Entry, Last reviewed , About 5 minutes to read
Our test store, left unfixed on purpose
Last checked October 14, 2026
Problems it holds for testing
- 219 Some controls contain other controls, which screen readers and keyboards can skip or announce wrongly.
- 218 Some text has too little contrast with its background to be read easily, especially by people with low vision.
- 147 Some product images have no text description, so people using a screen reader do not know what they show.
Latest change
Oct 13 Some buttons and links are too small or too close together to tap reliably.
In short
The US Justice Department says the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers businesses open to the public. It says that includes what they offer online. Stores like yours do get sued. A law firm, Seyfarth Shaw, counted 3,117 website accessibility suits in federal court in 2025.
What you can control is your store. You can make it easier to use for customers who shop with a keyboard, a screen reader or zoom. And you can keep a record of what you fixed and when.
What the Justice Department says
In March 2022, the department said the ADA’s requirements apply to the goods and services businesses offer, “including those offered on the web.” It says that’s been its position all along. How you make your store accessible is up to you, the same guidance says. It’s guidance, not law, and it says so itself.
In February 2026, the two sides in a group lawsuit over a clothing company’s website agreed on a deal. A judge still had to approve it. The Justice Department asked the court to turn the deal down. Its problem? The deal promised an accessible site without saying how, and gave no way to check it or hold anyone to it.
In the same filing, the department turned to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and said it “does not endorse WCAG.” Not as the right standard, or a required one, under the part of the ADA for businesses open to the public.
And its 2024 web rule? That’s for state and local governments, not stores, its fact sheet says.
How often do businesses get sued over their websites?
Seyfarth Shaw’s 2025 count was up 27% from 2024, and it covers every kind of business, not just stores.
New York’s federal courts had 1,021 of those suits. California’s had four.
Many people who used to sue in New York’s federal courts now file in New York and New Jersey state courts. The count leaves those suits out.
How often businesses get sued over websites
3,117 website suits filed in federal court in 2025,
27% more than in 2024,
1,021 in New York's federal courts,
4 in California's federal courts,
What courts have said
Why is this in doubt at all? The ADA bars discrimination in “any place of public accommodation.” Its list of covered businesses names a “clothing store” and “other sales or rental establishment”. It never mentions websites. A store that’s only a website doesn’t fit those words neatly. So courts have worked it out case by case.
- The Ninth Circuit. This is the appeals court above California’s federal courts. It has long required a link to a real, physical place. In January 2019, it ruled that a pizza chain’s website and app were covered because they led to its restaurants.
- A California state appeals court. In August 2022, it found that a retail website with no physical store behind it isn’t a place of public accommodation.
- Federal courts in New York. Judges there haven’t all decided the same way. Seyfarth Shaw says most have found an online-only store is covered. In fall 2024, though, two judges in one New York federal court ruled that an online-only store isn’t. Two more judges in that same court said the opposite in spring 2025. And in October 2026, a judge there told both sides in a new suit to look at whether the business has a physical location.
No higher court has settled it yet. The Supreme Court hasn’t decided it, and neither has the appeals court for New York, as a New York federal court noted in April 2025.
Is an online-only store covered by the ADA?
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January 2019,
The Ninth Circuit, an appeals court , Covered
A pizza chain's website and app, because they led to its restaurants
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August 2022,
A California state appeals court , Not covered
A retail website with no physical store behind it
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Fall 2024,
Two federal judges in New York , Not covered
An online-only store
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Spring 2025,
Two more judges there , Covered
The same kind of store, the opposite answer
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October 2026,
Another judge there , Still open
Told both sides to look at whether the business has a physical store
What it means for your store
You’d only get a firm answer for your store if someone sued. One of those fall 2024 rulings in New York decided a suit filed in May 2022. That took more than two years.
No rule says which standard a business’s website has to meet. The Ninth Circuit said in 2019 that courts can still make WCAG part of what they order. Seyfarth Shaw says the Justice Department’s own settlements have usually required WCAG 2.0 or 2.1 at Level AA. We hold our work to WCAG 2.2 Level AA by choice. It’s our yardstick, not a legal finding.
Two bills in Congress would make someone warn a business and give it time to fix its website before suing. In October 2026, both were still waiting in committee.
Some states have their own laws. Kansas lets a business ask a court to call a website suit abusive, and Georgia lets it win damages and lawyers’ fees when one fails. Missouri lets a business ask a court to rule a suit abusive, presumed so if it fixed the problem within 90 days of notice. Each law covers only its own state’s businesses. Our guide to ADA website demand letters walks you through these laws.
Where your own store stands is a question for your lawyer.
How we help
We can’t tell you whether the ADA reaches your store. Here’s what we can do. We find the problems on your store, write the fixes, and check each one once it’s live. We keep a dated record of every fix, so you can show what was fixed and when. See what our Engage plan includes.
Sources
- 42 U.S.C. § 12181 and § 12182, United States Code, 2024 edition
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 17-55504, January 15, 2019
- California Court of Appeal, No. B314476, August 1, 2022
- US District Court for the Southern District of New York, opinion of September 30, 2024
- US District Court for the Southern District of New York, opinion of October 16, 2024
- US District Court for the Southern District of New York, opinion of April 18, 2025
- US District Court for the Southern District of New York, order of October 7, 2026
- US Department of Justice, statement of interest opposing a class settlement over a retailer's website, February 2, 2026
- US Department of Justice, Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA, March 18, 2022
- US Department of Justice, fact sheet on the 2024 web rule for state and local governments
- Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog: federal website accessibility lawsuit filings in 2025, March 25, 2026
- US Congress, H.R. 8396 and H.R. 9539 (119th Congress), status read October 18, 2026
- Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog: the Justice Department and a proposed website class settlement, February 2026
- Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog: what to expect in 2026, March 4, 2026
We checked this guide against its sources on the date at the top, and laws and court decisions can change after that. It's general information, not advice for your own store, so your lawyer or tax preparer has the final word.