ADA Compliance for Ghost Websites
Ghost publications are content businesses: newsletters, memberships and blogs where the writers decide the accessibility of every post. ADA exposure on a Ghost site is about habits, such as alt text on every image and real headings, and about the signup and portal forms that turn readers into members.
This Ghost ADA compliance checker runs the same engine as the Ghost accessibility checker with the ADA preset selected, so the results are measured against WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Paste a page address above to see the issues on your own Ghost site.
Ghost ADA Compliance Risks to Check First
These are the barriers most often behind accessibility complaints on Ghost sites. Each one maps to a WCAG success criterion that the scan reports.
-
Image and gallery cards
Images and galleries added in the editor without alt text.
-
Headings in long posts
Bold text used for section titles, and levels that skip.
-
Subscribe and portal forms
Signup forms and pop-ups that need clear labels and error messages.
-
Embeds
Videos and social embeds in iframes without titles.
How the ADA Applies to Your Ghost Site
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses open to the public to give people with disabilities equal access to their goods and services. The Department of Justice states that this covers a business's web content as well as its physical locations ({ADA.gov web guidance (opens in a new tab)}). The law does not name a technical standard for private websites, so courts, settlements and demand letters tend to point to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, which is why this checker uses it.
- 3,117 website accessibility lawsuits filed in U.S. federal court in 2025, up 27% from 2024 Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog (opens in a new tab)
- 5,000+ digital accessibility lawsuits filed across federal and state courts in 2025 UsableNet 2025 year-end report (opens in a new tab)
- 1,427 of those 2025 lawsuits were against companies that had already been sued UsableNet 2025 year-end report (opens in a new tab)
- 64% of companies sued in the first half of 2025 had annual revenue under $25 million UsableNet 2025 midyear report (opens in a new tab)
None of this depends on which platform you use: a claim names the barrier on the page, not the software behind it. Read more in our ADA website compliance guide and the general ADA compliance checker.
Ghost ADA Compliance Steps
- Run the ADA check above on your homepage, and then on a page of each type you publish.
- Give writers a short checklist: alt text for every image, real headings, descriptive links and captions on video.
- Scan the homepage, a post and the subscribe flow, since they use different theme templates.
- Fix colors and focus styles once in the theme so every post benefits.
- Rescan to confirm each fix, and keep dated records. AccessBell Pro monitors up to 500 URLs per domain every day and emails you when something new fails.
What an Automated Ghost ADA Check Can and Cannot Do
Automated testing finds a large share of the machine-detectable WCAG failures, such as missing alt text, unlabeled fields, low contrast and broken ARIA. It cannot judge whether alt text is accurate, whether a keyboard path makes sense or whether a screen reader user can complete a purchase. Test your key journeys by hand as well, and read our methodology for exactly what runs.
No tool, including this one, can certify that a Ghost site is ADA compliant or protect you from a claim. Treat a scan as evidence of ongoing effort, and speak to a lawyer if you receive a demand letter.
Free scan and 3-day free trial
- Free, with no account: every issue found on the page, ranked by severity, with the WCAG criteria each one fails.
- With the trial: the failing HTML, how to fix each issue, scans of up to 500 pages per domain, daily monitoring and a dated record of your fixes.
Publishing an Accessibility Statement on Ghost
Publish your accessibility statement as a page and link it from the navigation or footer in the theme settings. Our free accessibility statement generator writes the text, and it should name the standard you follow, any known gaps and a way to contact you.
Ghost ADA Compliance: Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ghost ADA compliant?
Ghost’s themes are a good base, but writers and theme edits decide the result. Scan a few posts and your signup pages.
Do paid newsletters need to be accessible?
If you sell memberships to the public, your site is part of a commercial service. Accessible signup and content protect readers and you.
Can AccessBell scan Ghost(Pro) sites?
Yes. Hosting makes no difference, since AccessBell tests the public pages.
What standard does the Ghost ADA compliance check use?
WCAG 2.1 Level AA, the technical standard the Department of Justice has adopted for state and local government websites and the one courts and settlements most often cite for businesses. The ADA itself does not name a technical standard for private business websites.
Sources
- ADA.gov: Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (opens in a new tab)
- W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 (opens in a new tab)
- Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog (opens in a new tab)
- UsableNet 2025 year-end report (opens in a new tab)
- UsableNet 2025 midyear report (opens in a new tab)
This page explains general ADA and accessibility patterns for Ghost sites and is not legal advice. AccessBell is not affiliated with Ghost. Ghost and its logo are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the platform. See our disclaimer.
