ADA website demand letters: what to do when one arrives

Take these to your lawyer, in this order.

1. Should I reply at all, and is there a deadline? Your lawyer can tell you whether to reply, how, and by when.

2. Who should do the fixes, and should the reports go to my lawyer first? Your lawyer may want a say in who does the work, and in how the results reach them.

3. What does the letter name? Your lawyer reads it with you. If it lists pages, problems or dates, those are what we check first. A letter won’t tell you how many other problems your store has, or what the work will take.

4. Where should the work start after that? We start nearest checkout, because that’s where your customers pay.

5. What record should I keep? What we found and the date of every step. Write it down as the work happens, and the dates are already there. Nobody has to piece them together later.

   In March 2026, a federal court in New York ended the ADA claim in one website suit. The business showed it had fixed the barriers and would keep its site accessible. It had a sworn statement and an outside audit to show it. A claim under state law could still go to a state court. That’s one court’s view.

6. Should I publish an accessibility statement? If you do, be honest in it about what isn’t fixed yet. W3C, which publishes the accessibility guidelines, says a statement should list any known limitations. That includes problems still open.

• A widget. A widget changes the page in your shopper’s browser. Your store’s own code stays as it was. The Federal Trade Commission calls these widgets overlays, and describes them as making temporary changes while someone visits a page.

  In 2021, a federal court in New York wouldn’t end two suits against stores that had bought a widget from an overlay seller. In each, the court found the store hadn’t shown its site was fixed. A widget didn’t end either suit.

• A checker’s score. The US Justice Department says a clean report from an automated checker doesn’t necessarily mean a site is accessible. It suggests a person checks too.

• Fixing the store and nothing else. Worth doing. Customers who use a keyboard, a screen reader or zoom can shop and pay, and your lawyer gets a record. It doesn’t settle the letter by itself, though.

These three states each give a business sued over its website a way to answer back. Each only applies to businesses based there, and your lawyer can tell you whether one helps with your letter or lawsuit.

• Kansas came first, in 2023. A Kansas business can ask a court to call a website suit against it abusive.

• Missouri’s law, in force since August 28, 2026, covers only Missouri businesses, including any registered with the state’s secretary of state. Sued over its website, such a business can bring its own case in a Missouri court, asking it to rule the suit abusive.

  If it began real, good-faith steps to fix the problem within 90 days of written notice, the court presumes a later website claim abusive. The other side can try to show it isn’t, and there’s no presumption if the problem wasn’t actually fixed in time, as the court decides.

• In Georgia, a law has been in force since July 1, 2026. Georgia’s legislative counsel says a Georgia business can be awarded damages and its lawyers’ fees when a website ADA suit against it fails. That’s when the person suing loses, or the court throws the suit out. Your lawyer has the fine print.