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Accessibility law is not one-size-fits-all. The statutes that apply, the deadlines that bind you, and the WCAG failures most likely to get you sued all depend on the industry you operate in. Pick your sector for a practical, legally grounded compliance guide.
Online stores are the most-sued sector in digital accessibility — roughly 70% of all web accessibility lawsuits target e-commerce and retail.
Patient portals, telehealth, and intake forms now sit under some of the strictest accessibility rules in US law, including the HHS Section 504 web rule.
The DOJ's ADA Title II rule sets hard WCAG 2.1 AA deadlines for public schools and universities, while OCR complaints keep pressure on every campus.
Section 508 binds federal agencies, and the ADA Title II web rule now gives state and local governments enforceable WCAG deadlines of their own.
Every organization with a website answers to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines in some form, but the enforcement mechanisms differ dramatically. A private online store is most likely to face a demand letter or an ADA Title III lawsuit — over 3,100 such suits were filed in federal court in 2025 alone, with e-commerce absorbing the overwhelming majority. A hospital answers to HHS enforcement under Section 1557 and the Section 504 web rule. A public school district faces Department of Education OCR complaints and the DOJ's ADA Title II regulation. A federal agency must meet Section 508 in everything it builds and buys.
The technical work overlaps heavily — accessible forms, alt text, captions, keyboard support, and tagged PDFs matter everywhere — but where you should start depends on which failures carry the most legal and human cost in your sector. These guides rank the issues accordingly, and each ends with a roadmap you can hand to a development team. When you are ready to validate your work, use our WCAG 2.2 checklist or request a professional audit.
Work through every success criterion with a practical, plain-language checklist.
Professional WCAG 2.2 audits with prioritized remediation plans for any industry.
Current data on digital accessibility litigation — filings, venues, and industry breakdowns.
Deep dives on the ADA, Section 508, and the European Accessibility Act.
Many organizations sit under more than one regime — a university hospital, for example, can be covered by Title II, Section 504, and Section 1557 at once. We can map your obligations and audit against the strictest applicable standard.