Immediate Actions for Legal Mitigation

Being sued can take down your business and affect your brand’s public image. Be prepared for the worst by knowing what to do if it happens to you.

If served with a complaint or lawsuit for violating ADA regulations, do not wait or delay taking action for immediate remediation of your site's accessibility violations.

Follow the steps below to demonstrate that you are serious about making your site accessible to people with disabilities. It will also serve as a public expression that you have begun to address the violations.

5 Steps to Take When Facing an

Accessibility Complaint or Lawsuit

1. Get experts on your side

Hire an attorney, preferably one with experience handling accessibility-related cases, to face the claimant, protect you legally and limit your liability. Hire an accessibility expert to help you navigate steps 2-5 below.

2. Fix what's easy to fix

One lawsuit will not prevent you from getting another lawsuit: we know of sites who have received multiple concurrent lawsuits for accessibility violations that were not remediated immediately. Addressing the parts of your website that fall short is an essential step toward becoming compliant.

3. Demonstrate real effort

Show and document your efforts by requesting a comprehensive accessibility audit. Your site needs to be 100% compliant, or you will be vulnerable to more lawsuits. Before the audit begins you get an official letter written by a UserWay director confirming that remediation efforts have begun.

4. Get to the bottom of it

Air-tight accessibility may require looking under the hood, and possibly some re-wiring. Address the advice of your accessibility expert and audit report recommendations. Your internal subject matter experts will quickly take on a true, in-depth accessibility perspective.

5. Maintain vigilance

After you believe all issues have been addressed, and your legal team has helped you settle the case, maintain awareness of digital accessibility, provide internal/corporate training on the matter, and remain vigilant to ensure that any new digital content is authored using accessibility best practices.