Is Your Business's Website ADA Aligned?
Run a free WCAG 2.1 AA screening on your business's site in under 30 seconds. Every business is a demand-letter target — find out where you stand.
How a Claim Escalates
Toggle between an unprotected site and one with ADA Shield in place to see how documented preparation changes the picture at each stage.
Site live, no accessibility record
No statement page, no audit trail, no documented remediation effort.
Automated scanning by plaintiff firms
3,117 website ADA lawsuits filed in federal court in 2025, up from 2,452 in 2024 (Seyfarth Shaw).
Demand letter arrives
An estimated 35,000–50,000 demand letters were sent in 2025 — roughly 7–10 for every lawsuit actually filed.
Negotiation stalls, no good-faith record to show
Most small businesses settle for $5,000–$15,000 plus a 90–180 day remediation commitment.
Lawsuit or judgment
Out-of-court settlements average $30,000; court judgments average $85,000. Defense fees apply on top in all cases.
Repeat claims or class action
Sites already running a widget aren't exempt — 24.9% of sites sued in 2025 already had an accessibility overlay installed.
Figures are industry-reported averages from third-party litigation trackers (Seyfarth Shaw, UsableNet, EcomBack, 2025–2026), not a prediction or guarantee of outcome for any specific business. Not legal advice.
A Widget Alone Isn't the Answer
24.9% of businesses sued in 2025 already had an accessibility overlay installed (EcomBack 2025 annual report). An overlay-only approach does not create a documented compliance program — it installs a toolbar and hopes for the best.
This isn't a hypothetical concern. In January 2025, the Federal Trade Commission ordered a major accessibility overlay vendor to pay $1 million for deceptively claiming its AI-powered product could make any website compliant, when it did not reliably deliver on that promise. We don't name the vendor here for legal reasons, but the case is a matter of public FTC record. A seal that asserts “COMPLIANT” regardless of real conformance status isn't just misleading — regulators have already shown it can be a costly liability for the vendor making that claim, not just the business relying on it.
Source: Federal Trade Commission, January 2025 enforcement action
ADA Shield's system combines the widget with a hosted statement page, a compliance seal that reads “ALIGNED” only when alignment is demonstrated, four demand letter response template variants, and a versioned audit trail — so your response to a demand letter is backed by a documented record, not a scramble.
See Exactly What You're Paying For
Most accessibility tools solve one problem. Here's what it actually costs to piece together what Foundation includes in one place.
Accessibility widget
Hosted, versioned accessibility statement
Conformance seal (accurate status, not "compliant")
Privacy Policy / Terms / Cookie Policy generator
Cookie consent banner + script tracking
Demand letter response template
Documented compliance audit trail
Published annual price (as of Sept 2026)
Buying the widget and the policy tools separately: $519–$1,850+/year, before a demand letter template or audit trail exists anywhere in that stack. ADA Shield Foundation: $2,497/year, all of it in one place.
Third-party pricing reflects publicly published rates as of September 2026 and is subject to change without notice. Figures shown are ranges based on publicly available rate cards; enterprise or custom pricing may differ. See individual vendor sites for current pricing.
What This Looks Like in Practice
A hypothetical 12-location retail business with no accessibility statement receives a demand letter. Here's how the timeline plays out with and without ADA Shield.
| Stage | Event | Without ADA Shield | With ADA Shield |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 0 | Site live across 12 locations, no accessibility statement or widget | $0 | $2,497/year Foundation tier |
| First contact | Demand letter arrives demanding $5,000 | $5,000 initial demand | Response template sent within 48 hours, compliance record attached |
| Negotiation | Plaintiff pushes for $15,000 settlement + 180-day remediation | $10,000–$15,000 settlement, no good-faith record to leverage | Documented alignment status and statement page presented as evidence of active effort |
| Resolution | Matter resolved | $15,000–$50,000 total cost (settlement + remediation + counsel) | Settlement reduced or withdrawn; remediation plan already in progress |
Estimated difference: Without ADA Shield, this business faces $15,000–$50,000 in settlement, remediation, and counsel costs — with no documented good-faith record. With Foundation tier ($2,497/year), the same business has a hosted statement, compliance seal, and response template ready before the letter arrives, giving it a documented position to negotiate from.
This is a hypothetical illustration for educational purposes. Actual outcomes vary by case, jurisdiction, and plaintiff. ADA Shield does not guarantee any specific legal outcome.
This Could Be Your Business
Small businesses like these are sued every week — often with no warning.
Sticky Rice
Small Echo Park restaurant sued after a legally blind plaintiff alleged difficulty accessing the business's website.
Reported by ABC7 Los Angeles as part of a wave of small-business ADA suits.
Source: ABC7 Los Angeles coverage, Manning Law Firm litigation
West of Camden
Huntington Beach clothing retailer sued twice over alleged website ADA violations.
Repeat litigation compounds cost with no discount for a second claim.
Source: Orange County business press coverage of local ADA website litigation
Fashion Nova
Web accessibility class action, 2025. Screen-reader users alleged they could not browse products or complete purchases.
Settled for $5.15 million — the largest such settlement on record.
Source: National Law Review coverage of Fashion Nova settlement, 2025
“There was no warning… just this lawsuit out of the blue.”
— Erin Slattery, President & CEO, Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce
Source: Orange County business press coverage
What's Built Into ADA Shield
A complete accessibility program — not just a widget, a documented system.
12-Feature Accessibility Widget
Text resizing, high contrast, dyslexia font, reading guide, motor navigation tools, and more — a full WCAG 2.1 AA toolbar that deploys to any website in minutes via a single script tag. Works on WordPress, Brilliant Directories, and any platform.
Legal Document Engine + Conformance Seal
A professionally structured accessibility statement, privacy policy, terms of service, and cookie policy — each generated in seconds, hosted at a permanent URL on adashield.org, and updated instantly. The seal reads "ALIGNED" only when alignment is demonstrated — never an unconditional "COMPLIANT" claim.
Four Demand Letter Response Templates
Professionally drafted response templates calibrated to letter type — serial litigant, legitimate claim, DOJ complaint, and website privacy/wiretap matters. Auto-populated with your compliance record so a response goes out immediately.
Hosted + Embeddable Legal Documents
Your accessibility statement, privacy policy, terms of service, and cookie policy each live at a permanent adashield.org URL, publicly verifiable by any visitor. Embed any of them on your own site or link directly — both options included for every document.
Cookie Consent Module
A consent banner that respects visitor privacy choices, with tracked script management and consent activity logging — included for all members at no extra cost.
Documented Compliance Record
Every scan, statement version, page monitored, and demand letter logged creates a documented compliance history. In a dispute, your due diligence is provable — that changes the negotiating position entirely.
ADA Shield is built by the Help Lawyer legal network
Help Lawyer is a global network of attorneys and legal experts. ADA Shield's accessibility program — statement language, response templates, and compliance protocols — is shaped by practicing attorneys who handle ADA matters.
Learn more about Help LawyerChoose Your Tier
Two straightforward tiers. Request an invite and we'll follow up to get you set up.
Foundation
Self-service ADA compliance essentials
- Accessibility widget for your website
- Hosted accessibility statement page with conformance seal
- Full compliance document suite — Privacy Policy, Terms of Service & Cookie Policy, with version history for legal audit trail
- Self-serve demand letter template (starting point you customize and send yourself)
Managed
Foundation plus ongoing monitoring
- Everything in Foundation
- Monthly automated accessibility scan
- Branded PDF scan report
Managed tier is in development. Join the waitlist to be notified at launch.
The demand letter template is a self-serve starting point. You customize and send it yourself — it is not reviewed or drafted for you.
Need help installing the widget?
Our team can set up ADA Shield directly on your website for you — widget installation, statement embedding, and cookie consent configuration — for a small additional fee. Just mention it in your request and we'll include it in your setup.
An Investment, Not Just an Expense
ADA Shield may cost less than you think after tax benefits.
Ordinary Business Expense
Subscription costs for compliance and business software are generally deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense under IRS rules — the same category as any other operating tool your business relies on.
This is general tax information, not tax advice. Confirm your specific treatment with your accountant or tax preparer.
IRS Disabled Access Credit
Up to $5,000/yr
IRS Form 8826 (Section 44) lets eligible small businesses claim 50% of eligible accessibility expenditures between $250 and $10,250 — every year expenses are incurred.
Eligible: gross receipts of $1M or less, or 30 or fewer full-time employees in the prior year.
Source: IRS Form 8826, Section 44 (Disabled Access Credit)
Not tax advice. Consult a qualified tax professional to confirm your eligibility and file IRS Form 8826.
ADA Shield provides tools to support web accessibility efforts and to help document a good-faith compliance program. It does not guarantee that your website meets any specific accessibility standard, that you will not receive a demand letter or be named in a lawsuit, or that any legal claim will be resolved favorably. Statistics referenced on this page are drawn from third-party industry sources and describe industry-wide trends, not a prediction for your business. ADA Shield is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
Request Invite
Tell us about your organization. We'll review your request and follow up.
Every request is reviewed personally before access is granted — this isn't an automated signup. We do this to make sure ADA Shield is genuinely the right fit for your organization before you're set up.