Most ADA website lawsuits are triggered by basic, easily identifiable coding mistakes rather than complex visual design issues.
The most common failures that expose small businesses to legal liability include:
- Missing “alt text” (hidden descriptions) on images, making them completely invisible to visually impaired users
- poor color contrast that makes text unreadable
- empty links or buttons without clear digital labels
- embedded PDF documents that cannot be read by assistive technology.
Furthermore, “keyboard traps” are highly prevalent. This occurs when a user navigating with a keyboard (rather than a mouse) gets stuck in a drop-down menu, map, or pop-up and cannot escape. Identifying and fixing these fundamental errors is the most effective way to eliminate the low-hanging fruit targeted by predatory law firms.
