accessibility glossary

ADA Title III

ADA Title III covers privately owned businesses open to the public, including most commercial websites, and is the basis for the large majority of U.S. web accessibility lawsuits.

Unlike Title II, Title III has no finalized DOJ regulation specifying a technical standard for websites, which has left the details to case law rather than statute. In practice, courts, plaintiffs’ attorneys, and settlement agreements overwhelmingly treat WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the working definition of accessible under Title III.

Retail, hospitality, healthcare, financial services, and e-commerce are the most frequently sued sectors. Because there is no bright-line legal safe harbor, the only reliable way to reduce Title III risk is a genuinely WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA-conformant website, not a specific certification or seal.

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ADA & Section 508 Website Accessibility Audit Services