ADA Website Compliance

ADA WEBSITE COMPLIANCE SERVICE

When choosing a vendor for your WordPress ADA Website Compliance, you need a partner who provides a comprehensive, multi-phased service, not just a “one-click” widget solution. A true expert will offer a service that includes a hybrid accessibility audit (combining automated scanning with manual testing using assistive technologies), a detailed remediation plan to fix code and content issues to meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards, and a strategy for ongoing monitoring and maintenance to ensure your site remains compliant.

The most critical questions you can ask a potential vendor should test their technical depth and their ethical approach to accessibility. Ask them to describe their audit methodology and whether it includes manual testing with screen readers. You must inquire about their stance on overlay widgets and whether they consider them a complete solution (an expert will say they are not). Demand to see a sample audit report that clearly identifies issues and provides actionable recommendations. The right partner will act as a long-term consultant, focused on making your website genuinely accessible to all users, thereby expanding your market and significantly reducing your legal risk.

WordPress ADA Website Compliance Services We Offer: An Expert’s Blueprint to Help You Grow Your Business Stronger!

What if I told you there was a way to expand your potential customer base by up to 25%, enhance your brand’s reputation as an inclusive leader, improve your search engine optimization (SEO), and significantly reduce your risk of a costly and damaging lawsuit—all at the same time?

That is the power of making your WordPress website ADA compliant.

For many business owners, the topic of website accessibility and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a source of confusion and fear. You’ve likely heard the horror stories of businesses, both large and small, being hit with demand letters and expensive lawsuits. But after more than a decade of specializing in this critical field, I can tell you that viewing accessibility only through the lens of legal defense is a profound mistake.

Website accessibility is not just about avoiding a lawsuit; it’s about opening your digital front door to every single potential customer. It is a moral imperative and, in 2025, a fundamental pillar of smart business strategy.

This guide is my comprehensive blueprint for you, the business owner. It’s designed to demystify the world of digital accessibility, explain the full spectrum of professional services required to make your WordPress site compliant with the current Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standard, and arm you with the critical questions you must ask to choose a partner who will turn your compliance from a liability into a powerful competitive advantage.

Part 1: The Spectrum of ADA Compliance Services – Building an Inclusive Digital Storefront ♿

Achieving and maintaining website accessibility is not a one-time fix or the simple installation of a plugin. It is a systematic process that involves a deep audit, meticulous remediation, and ongoing vigilance. Our services are structured around this professional, multi-phased approach.

Phase 1: The Accessibility Audit & Conformance Report

This is the foundational diagnostic. We can’t fix what we don’t know is broken. Our audit is a deep, comprehensive examination of your website against the WCAG 2.2 AA standards.

• Hybrid Testing Methodology: This is the key to a meaningful audit.
  • Automated Scanning: We use a suite of powerful, professional tools to scan every page of your website. These tools are excellent at catching a wide range of issues, such as missing alt text or poor color contrast.
  • Manual & Assistive Technology Testing: This is the critical step that separates a true expert from an amateur. An automated tool can’t tell you if your website is genuinely usable. Our accessibility experts manually navigate your entire website using only a keyboard and test it with screen readers (like JAWS and NVDA), the same technology used by visually impaired users. This uncovers the real-world usability issues that automated scans always miss.
• The Deliverable: The Audit & Remediation Roadmap. You don’t just get a list of problems. You receive a detailed audit report that:
  • Identifies every accessibility issue on your site.
  • References the specific WCAG 2.2 AA success criterion it violates.
  • Provides clear, plain-English explanations of the issue and its impact on users.
  • Delivers a prioritized, actionable roadmap for fixing the issues, categorized by severity.

Phase 2: Remediation & Implementation (The “Fixing” Phase)

This is the hands-on technical and content work to bring your website into conformance.

• Code-Level Remediation: Our developers go into your website’s theme and plugin code to fix issues that cannot be solved from the WordPress admin. This includes adding ARIA labels for screen readers, fixing keyboard navigation traps, and ensuring dynamic content is accessible.
• Content Remediation: We work through every page and post on your site to fix content-level issues, including:
  • Writing descriptive Alt Text for all meaningful images.
  • Ensuring a logical Heading Structure (H1, H2, H3) for easy navigation.
  • Adjusting colors to meet minimum color contrast ratios.
  • Making sure all functionality is fully accessible via keyboard.
  • Adding captions and providing transcripts for all video and audio content.
  • Ensuring all forms have proper labels, instructions, and accessible error messages.

Phase 3: Post-Remediation & Ongoing Compliance

Accessibility is a moving target. A single new blog post with an un-tagged image can break your compliance.

• Validation & Re-Audit: After the remediation work is complete, we perform a final validation scan and manual check to confirm that all identified issues have been resolved and your site now conforms to WCAG 2.2 AA standards.
• Accessibility Statement: We write and publish a formal Accessibility Statement on your website. This page details your commitment to accessibility, the standards you adhere to, and provides a channel for users to report any issues they may encounter. This is a critical component of demonstrating your good-faith effort.
• Ongoing Monitoring & Maintenance: We offer a monthly monitoring service that provides regular automated scans of your site to catch any new accessibility issues that may have been introduced with new content.
• Team Training: We provide training for your team on how to create accessible content (e.g., how to write good alt text, how to structure a post with proper headings) to help you maintain compliance over the long term.

Part 2: The Ultimate Vendor Vetting Checklist – 10 Questions to Uncover a True Accessibility Expert 🕵️‍♀️

Choosing a partner for this legally sensitive work is a critical decision. Use these ten questions to separate the true accessibility experts from the low-cost “widget-installers.”

1. “What is your methodology for conducting an accessibility audit? Does it include both automated scanning and manual testing with assistive technologies like screen readers?”

• Why it’s vital: This is the #1 qualifying question. If they only rely on automated scans, they are not providing a thorough or reliable audit. Manual testing is non-negotiable for identifying real-world usability barriers.
• A great answer sounds like: “Our audit is always a hybrid approach. We start with a full-site automated scan to catch the low-hanging fruit. Then, our accessibility specialists perform a comprehensive manual audit of all key page templates and user flows using keyboard-only navigation and the NVDA and JAWS screen readers to ensure genuine usability.”

2. “What is your company’s official stance on accessibility overlay widgets? Do you consider them a complete, one-click solution for ADA compliance?”

• Why it’s vital: This is a critical question that reveals their expertise and honesty. The consensus among true accessibility experts is that these widgets are not a complete solution and can sometimes create new problems.
• A great answer sounds like: “That’s a very important question. Our stance, which aligns with the broader accessibility community, is that overlay widgets are not a substitute for proper remediation. While they can offer some helpful user controls, they do not fix the underlying code of your website and cannot make a site fully compliant. We view them as a potential supplement, but never as the core solution.”

3. “Which specific WCAG version and conformance level (e.g., 2.1 AA, 2.2 AA) do you audit and remediate for?”

• Why it’s vital: This tests their currency and specificity. As of 2025, the accepted standard is WCAG 2.2 at a Level AA conformance.
• A great answer sounds like: “We audit and remediate to the current industry standard, which is WCAG 2.2 Level AA. This is the standard most commonly cited in legal cases and provides a strong level of accessibility for the vast majority of users.”

4. “Can you show me a sanitized sample of an audit report and a final Accessibility Statement you have created for a previous client?”

• Why it’s vital: This allows you to assess the quality, clarity, and professionalism of their work product before you sign a contract.
• A great answer looks like: They can provide a detailed but easy-to-understand report that clearly identifies issues, links them to specific WCAG criteria, and provides clear recommendations. Their sample Accessibility Statement should be professional and comprehensive.

5. “Who on your team will be performing the audit and the code-level remediation? What are their qualifications or certifications in web accessibility?”

• Why it’s vital: You need to know that a true accessibility expert is handling this work, not a generalist web developer who just learned about it.
• A great answer sounds like: “Your audit and remediation will be led by [Name], our Head of Accessibility. She is an IAAP Certified Professional in Web Accessibility (CPWA) and has over 8 years of experience in the field.”

6. “Does your remediation service include fixing the issues directly in our website’s code and content, or do you just provide a report for our own developers to fix?”

• Why it’s vital: This clarifies the scope of the engagement.
• A great answer sounds like: “We offer both. Our primary service is a full, end-to-end audit and remediation where our team does all the work. However, for businesses with their own in-house development team, we also offer an ‘audit and consult’ model where we provide the roadmap and work with your team to implement the fixes.”

7. “Beyond legal compliance, how will making my site accessible benefit my business in other ways, such as SEO?”

• Why it’s vital: This tests their ability to connect accessibility to business growth.
• A great answer sounds like: “The benefits are huge. Many accessibility best practices—like proper heading structures, alt text for images, and transcripts for videos—are also SEO best practices that can directly improve your search rankings. Furthermore, a more accessible site is a more usable site for everyone, which can lead to lower bounce rates and higher conversion rates across the board.”

8. “What is your plan for ongoing monitoring to ensure my site remains compliant after we add new blog posts or products?”

• Why it’s vital: This tests their long-term vision and separates a one-time project from a true compliance partnership.
• A great answer sounds like: “We offer an optional ongoing Compliance Monitoring plan. It includes monthly automated scans and a quarterly manual review of any new content or templates to catch any new issues before they become a problem. We also provide training to help your team create accessible content from the start.”

9. “What is your detailed fee structure for an audit and for the subsequent remediation work?”

• Why it’s vital: You need absolute transparency. An audit should be a fixed fee, but remediation is often variable.
• A great answer sounds like: “Our audit is a one-time, fixed fee based on the size and complexity of your website. After the audit is complete, we provide you with a separate, detailed proposal for the remediation work, as the cost will depend on the number and complexity of the issues we uncover.”

10. “What is your process for handling a situation where a client receives a legal demand letter?”

• Why it’s vital: This tests their experience with the legal side of the issue.
• A great answer sounds like: “While we are not lawyers and cannot provide legal advice, we have worked with many clients in this situation. Our process is to work quickly with you and your legal counsel to perform an expedited audit, validate the claims in the letter, and create a rapid remediation plan to demonstrate a good-faith effort to comply, which is a key factor in resolving these matters.”

Part 4: Red Flags vs. Green Lights – Making Your Final Choice 🚦

Keep this simple scorecard in mind during your search.

🚩 Major Red Flags to Run From 🚩

• They promote an overlay widget as a “one-click,” “instant compliance” solution. This is the biggest red flag.
• Their audit process relies only on automated scans with no mention of manual or assistive technology testing.
• They can’t speak confidently about WCAG 2.2 AA.
• They are vague about their remediation process or who will be performing the work.
• They make unrealistic promises, like “your site will be 100% lawsuit-proof.”

✅ Bright Green Lights to Look For ✅

• They have a hybrid audit approach that combines automated tools with expert manual testing.
• They have a clear, nuanced, and honest perspective on the limitations of overlay widgets.
• They are fluent in the language of WCAG 2.2 AA.
• They have certified accessibility professionals on their team.
• They act as an educational partner, focused on helping you achieve and maintain genuine accessibility.

Your Final Decision

Website accessibility is not a technical problem to be solved; it is a human issue to be embraced. It is the practice of digital inclusion. In 2025, it is also an undeniable business imperative. By making your website accessible, you are not only mitigating significant legal risk; you are expanding your market, enhancing your brand’s reputation, and creating a better experience for every single one of your visitors.

When you choose a partner for this critical work, you are not just hiring a developer. You are investing in a specialist who understands the intersection of technology, user experience, and disability law. Use this guide to find a true expert. Forge that partnership, and you will build a website that is not only compliant but also more welcoming, more usable, and more successful for everyone.