ADA Website Compliance Checklist — Free PDF Guide for 2026

ADA Website Compliance Checklist — Complete Guide for 2026

Use this ADA website compliance checklist to ensure your website meets ADA Title III and WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. This checklist covers all 50+ success criteria — perfect for US businesses, developers, and compliance teams.

1. Perceivable — Can Users Perceive the Content?

1.1 Alt Text for Images (WCAG 1.1.1)

• ✅ All meaningful images have descriptive alt text
• ✅ Decorative images have empty alt="" (or are CSS backgrounds)
• ✅ Complex images (charts, diagrams) have long descriptions
• ✅ Alt text is concise (max 125 characters for screen readers)

1.2 Color Contrast (WCAG 1.4.3)

• ✅ Normal text (under 18pt) has contrast ratio of 4.5:1
• ✅ Large text (18pt and above) has contrast ratio of 3:1
• ✅ User interface components (icons, focus indicators) have 3:1 contrast
• ✅ Color alone is not used to convey meaning (e.g., red for error only)

1.3 Text Resizing & Zoom (WCAG 1.4.4)

• ✅ Text can be resized up to 200% without breaking layout
• ✅ No horizontal scrolling at 200% zoom on desktop
• ✅ No loss of content or functionality at 200% zoom

1.4 Captions for Video (WCAG 1.2.2)

• ✅ All pre-recorded video has captions
• ✅ Captions include all dialogue and relevant sound effects
• ✅ Captions are synchronized with the video

2. Operable — Can Users Navigate and Interact?

2.1 Keyboard Accessibility (WCAG 2.1.1)

• ✅ All functionality works with keyboard only (Tab, Enter, Space, Arrow keys)
• ✅ No keyboard traps (users can Tab in and out of all elements)
• ✅ Page is usable without a mouse

2.2 Focus Indicators (WCAG 2.4.7)

• ✅ All interactive elements show a visible focus indicator when Tabbed
• ✅ Focus indicator has at least 3:1 contrast against adjacent colors
• ✅ Focus indicator is not hidden by CSS (outline: none is removed)

2.3 Skip Navigation Links (WCAG 2.4.1)

• ✅ A "Skip to main content" link is present at the top of the page
• ✅ The skip link is visible when focused (not hidden)
• ✅ The skip link bypasses all repetitive navigation

2.4 Tab Order (WCAG 2.4.3)

• ✅ Tab order follows a logical, meaningful sequence (top to bottom, left to right)
• ✅ No tabindex values above 0 (which disrupt natural order)
• ✅ All content is reachable via Tab

3. Understandable — Can Users Understand the Content?

3.1 Form Labels (WCAG 3.3.2)

• ✅ All form fields have visible labels (<label> or aria-label)
• ✅ Labels are descriptive (e.g., "Email Address" not "Enter text here")
• ✅ Placeholder text is not used as a replacement for labels
• ✅ Required fields are clearly marked

3.2 Error Messages (WCAG 3.3.1)

• ✅ Error messages are clear and descriptive
• ✅ Error messages describe exactly what went wrong and how to fix it
• ✅ Errors are announced to screen reader users (aria-live or role="alert")

3.3 Language Declaration (WCAG 3.1.1)

• ✅ The HTML lang attribute is set (e.g., lang="en")
• ✅ Language is declared correctly for all pages
• ✅ Different languages on the same page are declared

4. Robust — Can Assistive Technologies Read the Content?

4.1 ARIA Attributes (WCAG 4.1.2)

• ✅ All custom interactive elements have proper ARIA roles
• ✅ ARIA labels are used where needed (aria-label, aria-labelledby)
• ✅ ARIA hidden elements are correctly hidden from screen readers
• ✅ No invalid ARIA attributes

4.2 Status Messages (WCAG 4.1.3)

• ✅ Status messages are announced to screen readers (aria-live="polite" or "assertive")
• ✅ Dynamic content updates (new results, error messages) are announced
• ✅ No content changes without notification

5. Additional Critical Checks

5.1 PDF Accessibility

• ✅ All PDFs are tagged (have structure)
• ✅ PDFs have alt text on images
• ✅ PDFs have proper reading order
• ✅ PDFs have language declaration

5.2 Mobile Accessibility

• ✅ Touch targets are at least 44x44 pixels
• ✅ Gesture alternatives exist (buttons for swipe actions)
• ✅ Screen reader support on mobile (VoiceOver/TalkBack)

5.3 Video & Audio

• ✅ All video has captions
• ✅ All video has audio descriptions (if visual-only content)
• ✅ Audio-only content has transcripts

5.4 Page Structure

• ✅ Proper heading hierarchy (H1 → H2 → H3, no skipped levels)
• ✅ Landmarks used (header, main, navigation, footer, search, complementary)
• ✅ Page titles are descriptive and unique

Internal Links — ADA Resources