ADA Compliance and the Future of Your Website: What to Know About Accessibility
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Your website should work for every person who visits it. While that sounds obvious, most websites don’t take into account the estimated one in four U.S. adults living with a disability. This is particularly problematic for members of our online physician community, who have practice websites and related compliance issues to be aware of. Menus that can't be navigated with a keyboard. Forms that screen readers can't interpret. PDFs that are completely invisible to assistive technology. The good news: these are all fixable. If you're a physician with a website — whether it's a private practice, a side business, or a personal brand — understanding the basics of web accessibility now will save you time, money, and headaches down the road. Let's walk through what ADA compliance actually means for your website, what's changed recently, and what you can do about it.
The information for this article is original material contributed by our partners at Artillery, who are professional website designers. They have helped numerous physicians in our community. Mention PSG for an exclusive $200 off a website custom designed for your private practice when you reach out at artillerymedia.com.
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What ADA Compliance Means for Websites
The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990. It was written for physical spaces — ramps, doorways, signage. But over the last decade, federal and state courts have increasingly applied it to the digital world too.
That means your practice website.
ADA compliance for websites means making sure people with disabilities — visual, auditory, motor, cognitive — can use your site the same way everyone else does. Navigate it. Read it. Fill out forms. Book an appointment.
WCAG: The Standard for ADA Compliance for Websites
The standard most courts reference is called WCAG — the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It's maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and is considered the global benchmark. The current recommended level is WCAG 2.1 or 2.2, Level AA.
That probably means nothing to you right now. That's fine. Here's what it boils down to in practice:
Can someone navigate your site using only a keyboard (no mouse)?
Can a screen reader announce your content in a logical order?
Do your images have text descriptions so non-sighted visitors know what's there?
Is there enough contrast between your text and background colors?
Are your forms labeled so assistive technology can interpret them?
Are your PDFs and documents accessible — not just your web pages?
If the answer to most of those is "I have no idea," you're in good company. Most website owners — physicians included — have never thought about this.
Why Website Accessibility Matters More Now Than Ever
It's the Right Thing to Do
This is the part that gets buried in most ADA articles, so let's lead with it. Roughly 61 million adults in the United States live with a disability. Some are your current patients. Others would like to be. Making your website usable for everyone isn't just a legal checkbox — it's good medicine and good business.
The Legal Landscape Is Shifting
A few things have converged to make this a bigger deal than it was even a few years ago.
Automated scanning is everywhere. Bots now crawl the internet looking for websites that don't meet WCAG standards. They flag violations automatically. Attorneys use these reports to file demand letters at scale. It's not personal — it's a system.
ADA Title II expanded in 2024. The Department of Justice published a final rule under ADA Title II requiring state and local government websites to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA. While Title II applies to public entities (not private practices directly), it signals clearly where enforcement is heading.
ADA-related web lawsuits continue to climb. Real businesses — including medical practices — receive real legal paperwork. Most cases settle, but settlements aren't cheap, and the legal fees add up either way.
None of this is meant to scare you. It's meant to help you get ahead of it.
What ADA Compliance for Website Accessibility Actually Looks Like
This is where most articles get vague. We won't. Here's what the work looks like in practice, based on sites our partners at Artillery build and remediate every week. If you need help updating your website, including the ADA compliance suggestions below, they can help.
Related PSG resource:
Artillery designs attractive websites that are pretty reasonable in price. They have helped numerous physicians in our community. Mention PSG at artillerymedia.com for an exclusive $200 off a website custom designed for your private practice or side gig business.
Global Fixes (Set Once, Site-Wide)
These are the "set it and move on" items that improve every page at once:
Add a "skip to content" link so keyboard and screen reader users can bypass navigation menus
Restore focus outlines — many themes hide the visual indicator that shows where your keyboard cursor is on the page
Fix heading structure — every page should have one H1 at the top, with H2s and H3s nested logically below it
Make sure link text is descriptive ("Schedule an appointment" instead of "Click here")
Set sufficient color contrast ratios — 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text
Page-by-Page Remediation
Add meaningful alt text to images (not "IMG_4582" — something like "Dr. Patel reviewing a chart with a patient in the clinic")
Label all form fields properly so screen readers can announce them
Check that buttons, toggles, and accordions are keyboard-navigable
Review embedded content — maps, videos, third-party widgets — for accessibility gaps
Documents and Media
PDFs are the biggest blind spot. If you have downloadable intake forms, calendars, or informational handouts, those need to be tagged and structured for screen readers too
Videos with meaningful audio need accurate captions — sometimes not just auto-generated ones
Transcripts should be available for video and audio content
Forms Deserve Extra Attention
Contact forms, patient intake forms, appointment requests — these are critical patient touchpoints. If the form fields aren't labeled, if error messages rely only on color, if the submit button isn't keyboard-accessible — the form is broken for a significant portion of your audience.
The Overlay Question: Can You Use Accessibility Widgets for ADA Compliance?
You may have seen accessibility "widgets" — small floating icons on websites that let visitors adjust font size, contrast, spacing, and more. Products like UserWay, accessiBe, and others fall into this category. They're called accessibility overlays.
Here's an honest look at what they are and aren't.
What Accessibility Overlays Do Well
Overlays are fast to install, affordable (some are free), and they provide a visible signal that you take accessibility seriously. They help with certain surface-level adjustments — font scaling, contrast modes, cursor size. For many small business owners, they're a reasonable first step.
UserWay is a trusted, recognizable, and actively maintained option.
Limitations to Accessibility Overlays
Overlays cannot fix your underlying code. If your heading structure is wrong, your forms aren't labeled, your PDFs are inaccessible, or your navigation doesn't work with a keyboard — no widget solves that. The widget sits on top of your site. It doesn't rebuild it.
The Nuance of Accessibility Widgets
A meaningful segment of the accessibility community has raised concerns about overlays. The worry is that they can create a false sense of compliance — business owners install a widget, assume they're covered, and never address the structural issues underneath.
Best Practice Recommendations with Accessibility Overlays
Use an overlay as a layer of protection, not a replacement for real work. Install it — it helps. But also make sure the bones of your site — headings, alt text, form labels, keyboard navigation, document accessibility — are solid.
A widget plus a well-built site is a strong position. A widget on top of a poorly built site is a Band-Aid.
What Adding ADA Compliance to Your Website Typically Costs
Manual accessibility remediation takes real time. For a typical site (30–50 pages), here's what the work looks like:
Global fixes (skip links, focus outlines, navigation, theme-level adjustments): 6–12 hours
Page-by-page remediation (headings, contrast, modules, buttons, embedded content): roughly 30 minutes to 1.5 hours per page
Content work (alt text, link text cleanup): 4–25 hours depending on how many images and documents you have
Forms and documents (accessible forms, PDF remediation): 2–8 hours for forms, 1–3 hours per PDF
A lean approach — fixing global issues and focusing on your most important pages — might run 15–35 hours. A full-site pass typically lands in the 60–90 hour range.
The good news: if your site was built well from the start, a lot of this is already handled. The expensive remediation projects tend to come from older sites, DIY builds, or themes that weren't designed with accessibility in mind.
If you need help getting your website up to the suggested guidelines, you and your team don’t have to tackle it alone.
Related PSG resource:
Artillery designs attractive websites that are pretty reasonable in price. They have helped numerous physicians in our community. Mention PSG at artillerymedia.com for an exclusive $200 off a website custom designed for your private practice or side gig business.
Where Website Accessibility Is Heading
While we don’t have a crystal ball, here are a few thoughts on where this is heading.
More regulation, not less: The Title II rule is likely just the beginning. Private sector requirements are likely to follow — either through legislation or through case law continuing to set precedent.
Smarter compliance tools:Â Automated scanning and remediation tools are getting better every year. They probably won't replace manual work entirely, but they'll make the audit process faster and more affordable.
Accessibility as a standard:Â Just like mobile responsiveness went from "nice to have" to "obviously required" over the last decade, accessibility is on the same trajectory. The sites being built today should be built accessible from day one.
Patients will notice: As awareness grows, patients — especially those with disabilities or aging family members — will gravitate toward practices whose digital presence is welcoming and functional for everyone.
Five Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Website’s Accessibility
You don't have to fix everything overnight. But you can start now.
Find Out Where You Stand
Run your site through a free accessibility scanner. UserWay offers one, and WAVE by WebAIMÂ is another solid option. This gives you a baseline.
Install a Trusted Accessibility Widget
UserWay is Artillery’s recommendation — it's free, widely recognized, and covers a lot of ground quickly.
Talk to Whoever Manages Your Website
Ask them about heading structure, alt text, form labels, and keyboard navigation. If they look at you blankly, that tells you something.
Address Your Documents
If you have PDFs on your site — intake forms, informational handouts, anything patients download — those need attention too. Adobe's accessibility tools can help, or your web team can handle it.
Build the Habit
Accessibility isn't a one-time project. Every time you add a page, upload an image, or embed a video, you're making accessibility decisions. Build the awareness now and it becomes second nature.
Conclusion
ADA compliance for your website isn't only about legal protection — though that matters. It's about making sure every person who finds you online can actually use what you've built.
One in four U.S. adults has a disability. Some of them are your patients. Some of them want to be.
The good news is that most of this is completely manageable. A well-built site, a solid accessibility widget, and a team that understands the basics — that puts you ahead of the vast majority of websites out there.
Start where you are. Make progress. The rest follows.
Additional Website & Marketing Resources for Physicians
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Artillery designs attractive websites that are pretty reasonable in price. They have helped numerous physicians in our community. Mention PSG at artillerymedia.com for an exclusive $200 off a website custom designed for your private practice or side gig business.
GMR Web Team is a healthcare-exclusive growth advisory and digital strategy firm that designs and executes integrated growth systems to increase profitability, strengthen brand authority, enhance patient experience, and build long-term enterprise value. From early-stage practices to multi-location groups preparing for transition or exit, they bring clarity, discipline, and executive-level strategy to every phase of growth. PSG members receive 20% off website hosting and development and free monthly patient newsletters and automated patient birthday & holiday e-cards (up to 1,000 communications per month) when they sign up through our affiliate link.
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