You Got an ADA Demand Letter. Here's Exactly What to Do Next

First: do not panic, and do not ignore it

A demand letter claiming your website violates the Americans with Disabilities Act is designed to do one thing — make you act quickly and emotionally. Some businesses panic and overpay. Others assume it is spam and ignore it, which is how a demand letter becomes a filed lawsuit. Neither reaction serves you.

The reality is that most of these matters resolve. Roughly 95% of sued companies settle rather than litigate, and a letter that arrives before a filing is, in a sense, the cheaper end of the process. Handled methodically, this is a solvable problem. Here is the playbook.

Why you received it

Most ADA website demand letters originate from a small number of high-volume plaintiff firms that scan large numbers of sites for the most common, machine-detectable WCAG failures — missing image descriptions, unlabeled form fields, poor color contrast, keyboard traps. In 2025 alone, plaintiffs filed 3,117 federal website accessibility lawsuits, up 27% year over year, and many more matters never reach a courtroom because they settle at the demand stage.

In other words: you were almost certainly identified by an automated scan, not a disgruntled customer. That matters, because it tells you what the other side already has — a list of detectable barriers — and what will make them go away.

The first 48 hours: five things to do

1. Preserve the letter and the page. Save the letter, note the date received, and do not alter or delete the website yet. You may want a record of its current state.
2. Loop in counsel. If you have an attorney (or your insurer provides one), forward the letter promptly. Many demand letters cite specific deadlines; missing one can escalate the matter.
3. Check your insurance. Some general-liability and cyber policies cover ADA accessibility claims or defense costs. Notify your carrier — coverage you do not claim does you no good.
4. Run your own audit. Use a free compliance checker to see the same low-hanging issues the plaintiff likely flagged, then commission a professional audit. Knowing the true scope of the problem is your single biggest source of negotiating leverage.
5. Document everything. Start a remediation log with dates. Demonstrable, good-faith progress toward WCAG 2.1 AA conformance strengthens your position in any negotiation.

What NOT to do

• Do not ignore it. Silence is the most reliable way to turn a $10,000 problem into a $75,000 one.
• Do not panic-install an "accessibility overlay." It will not fix the underlying barriers, and it may make things worse. EcomBack found 22.64% of websites sued in H1 2025 already had an overlay installed, and the FTC fined the overlay vendor accessiBe $1 million in 2025 for deceptive claims. An overlay is not a legal shield — here is why overlays do not work.
• Do not contact the plaintiff or their attorney yourself before talking to your own counsel.
• Do not quietly delete the page or the evidence. It looks bad and rarely helps.

Your realistic options

Once you understand the scope, you generally have three paths:

• Settle and remediate. The most common outcome. You agree to bring the site into conformance on a timeline (and often pay the plaintiff's attorney fees and a modest settlement). Real remediation is what makes the settlement durable.
• Remediate and negotiate down. If you can show the issues are already being fixed, you often reduce the settlement — plaintiffs prefer a clean, low-cost resolution to a fight.
• Litigate. Rare, expensive, and usually reserved for cases with unusual facts. Defense fees alone run $5,000–$100,000+ regardless of outcome.

The fix that actually protects you

Settlements come and go; the website remains. The only thing that prevents a second letter — from a different plaintiff, on the same barriers — is genuine remediation to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the 50-criterion standard courts apply under ADA Title III. Prioritize the "Big Six" failure types first (contrast, alt text, form labels, empty links, empty buttons, page language), then work through the full requirements checklist.

Think of it this way: the demand letter is the cost of finding out you had barriers. Remediation is the cost of making sure no one can find them again — and it is almost always less than the cost of repeated litigation. If you want to know exactly how exposed you are right now, model it with our lawsuit risk calculator, and consider a professional audit so your remediation is complete the first time.

The bottom line

An ADA demand letter is stressful, but it is not an emergency you have to solve alone in an afternoon. Preserve it, get counsel involved, understand the real scope through an audit, and fix the underlying barriers. Businesses that respond calmly and remediate properly almost always resolve these matters — and come out the other side with a website that is genuinely better for every customer.