Why Florida businesses keep getting ADA website lawsuits

The short answer

Florida is one of the busiest states in the country for ADA website accessibility lawsuits. According to Seyfarth Shaw’s tracking, 961 website accessibility suits were filed in Florida federal courts in 2025, almost double the 470 filed in 2024, second only to New York. Most complaints claim that a blind or low-vision user could not use the site with a screen reader because of problems such as missing image descriptions, unlabeled form fields or content that cannot be reached by keyboard. The practical way to reduce risk is to fix the most common barriers against WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA, keep fixing as the site changes, and publish an accessibility statement with a way to report problems.

This is general information, not legal advice. If you have received a demand letter or complaint, talk to an attorney before you respond.

Why Florida sees so many cases

• Volume and a growing plaintiffs’ bar. Seyfarth counted 3,117 federal website accessibility suits nationally in 2025, up 27% from 2024, and attributed the rise to new plaintiffs’ attorneys entering the space. Florida accounted for nearly a third of them.
• Unsettled law in the Eleventh Circuit. In 2021 the federal appeals court covering Florida, Georgia and Alabama ruled in Gil v. Winn-Dixie that “public accommodation” covers only physical places, not websites on their own. That opinion was later vacated as moot, as Holland & Knight explains, leaving no binding rule. Unsettled law encourages filings, and settling is often cheaper than litigating the question.
• Federal guidance. The Department of Justice’s web accessibility guidance states that businesses open to the public must make their websites accessible, while leaving them flexibility in how they do it.
• Attorney fees. The ADA lets successful plaintiffs recover attorney fees, which makes many small claims worth bringing even though Title III does not award money damages to the plaintiff.
• Many consumer-facing businesses. Florida has a large number of restaurants, hotels, retailers, healthcare practices and service businesses, which are the most common targets.

What complaints and demand letters usually cite

Complaints tend to be built from automated scans plus a tester using a screen reader. The issues listed are usually the same handful:

• Images, logos and icons with no text alternative, so a screen reader announces nothing useful.
• Form fields without labels, so users cannot tell what to enter in a booking or quote form.
• Menus, pop-ups and sliders that cannot be operated with a keyboard.
• Low color contrast between text and background.
• Links and buttons named “click here” or with no name at all.
• Missing headings structure, so users cannot skim the page.
• PDF menus, brochures or forms that are scanned images.
• Videos without captions.
• Online ordering, booking or checkout flows that break with assistive technology.

Most cite the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, usually WCAG 2.1 Level AA, as the benchmark. The DOJ also adopted WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical standard for state and local government websites in its 2024 rule.

Practical steps to reduce your risk

1. Test the pages that matter most. Home page, contact and quote forms, booking or ordering flow, menus, location pages and checkout. These are where testers start.
2. Run an automated scan, then test by hand. Tools catch missing alt text and contrast problems, but only a person can check keyboard navigation and whether a form makes sense with a screen reader. The W3C’s easy checks are a good first pass.
3. Fix the common barriers first. Alt text, form labels, keyboard access, contrast, headings and link names cover a large share of complaints.
4. Replace inaccessible documents. Turn PDF menus and forms into web pages or properly tagged PDFs.
5. Check third-party tools. Booking widgets, chat tools and ordering systems you embed are part of your site in a user’s eyes. Ask vendors for accessibility documentation.
6. Publish an accessibility statement with a phone number and email for reporting problems, and respond quickly when someone uses them.
7. Make it part of publishing. Every new page, image and form should follow the same rules, or the site drifts back out of shape.
8. Keep records of audits, fixes and dates. Evidence of ongoing work can matter if a claim arrives.

Worried about how your site would hold up to a tester with a screen reader? Book a free 30-minute call. We look at your key pages and tell you what we’d fix first. No obligation.

What about accessibility overlay widgets?

Overlay plugins that add a toolbar or claim to make a site compliant with one line of code are popular because they are cheap and fast. They do not fix underlying code problems such as unlabeled forms or keyboard traps, and sites using them continue to be sued. Treat an overlay as, at most, a small extra, never as a substitute for fixing the site.

If you receive a demand letter

• Do not ignore it, and do not reply without speaking to an attorney.
• Do not delete or rapidly change pages in a way that makes it hard to show what was there. Your attorney will advise on fixes and timing.
• Gather records: who built the site, any audits, accessibility statements and support requests.
• Check whether your business insurance covers this type of claim, and tell your insurer.
• Plan the remediation regardless of how the claim resolves. A second plaintiff can raise the same issues.

Which Florida businesses are targeted most

Any business with a public website can receive a claim, but certain types appear again and again: restaurants with PDF menus and online ordering, hotels and vacation rentals with booking engines, retailers and e-commerce stores, medical and dental practices with appointment forms, and professional services firms with intake forms. The common thread is a transaction a customer should be able to complete online. If your site lets people book, buy, order or request a quote, test that flow first, from start to finish, with a keyboard and a screen reader.

Size is not a shield. Small businesses with modest sites receive demand letters too, often because their sites were built on older themes with no accessibility work.

Accessibility is also good business

The same fixes that lower legal risk help everyone: clearer forms, readable text, better mobile use and pages that search engines understand more easily. For the full picture of the standards, see our guide to ADA website accessibility requirements.

How JLB USA helps

We started in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton more than 15 years ago and know how common these claims are for South Florida businesses. We build custom WordPress websites with accessibility in mind from the start, so forms, menus and images are done properly rather than patched later. Our Fort Lauderdale web design team can review an existing site and give you a prioritized list of fixes. We are not lawyers, and nothing here is legal advice.

Related services

• ADA website accessibility requirements
• Custom web design
• Fort Lauderdale web design
• Website before and after examples