WordPress ADA Compliance Checker

ADA Compliance for WordPress Websites

WordPress runs a huge share of small-business websites, and small businesses are the main target of ADA website claims. UsableNet found that 64% of the companies sued in the first half of 2025 had revenue under $25 million. On WordPress, the exposure comes from the layers around core: a theme, a page builder and plugins for forms, galleries, popups and cookies.

This WordPress ADA compliance checker runs the same engine as the WordPress 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 WordPress site.

WordPress ADA Compliance Risks to Check First

These are the barriers most often behind accessibility complaints on WordPress sites. Each one maps to a WCAG success criterion that the scan reports.

• Images with no alt text

  Media library uploads, featured images and gallery plugins publish images with empty or file-name alt text unless someone fills it in.

  WCAG 1.1.1 Non-text Content

• Contact forms without labels

  Form plugins and builder forms often show only placeholders, and error messages are not always announced.

  WCAG 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions

• Menus and popups a keyboard cannot use

  Theme dropdowns, mobile menus and popup plugins that need a mouse cut off keyboard users from your pages.

  WCAG 2.1.1 Keyboard

• Low-contrast theme colors

  Light gray text and pale buttons set in the theme customizer fail contrast across every page at once.

  WCAG 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)

How the ADA Applies to Your WordPress 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.

WordPress ADA Compliance Steps

1. Run the ADA check above on your homepage, and then on a page of each type you publish.
2. List your theme, page builder and active plugins, then scan a page that uses each: the homepage, a post, a form page and, if you sell, a product page.
3. Fix theme-level issues, such as contrast, focus styles and the main menu, in a child theme or the customizer, so every page benefits.
4. Make alt text, real headings and descriptive link text part of publishing a post, and re-scan after plugin and theme updates.
5. 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 WordPress 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 WordPress 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.

Start 3-day free trial

Publishing an Accessibility Statement on WordPress

Create a normal WordPress page for your accessibility statement and add it to the footer menu under Appearance > Menus, so it appears on every page. 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.

WordPress ADA Compliance: Frequently Asked Questions