ADA
United States
The Americans with Disabilities Act has been applied to websites and digital services through enforcement actions and court rulings.
Why It Matters
Accessibility opens markets and clears procurement. More than that, it decides who can use your product at all: over a billion people worldwide live with a disability.
Accessibility Is a Human Issue
1 Billion+people worldwide live with some form of disability
On the web the barriers are not always visible. They live in the code, in design decisions, and in assumptions about how people use technology.
For the person on the other end, an inaccessible site is a job they cannot apply for, a medical result they cannot read, a government form they cannot file.
Where the Legal Pressure Comes From
Accessibility requirements are increasingly backed by law. All three major frameworks reference WCAG as the technical standard.
Section 508
U.S. Federal Procurement
Requires federal agencies, and their technology vendors, to meet accessibility standards when procuring digital products.
EAA
European Union
The European Accessibility Act took effect in June 2025, extending requirements to private-sector digital products sold in EU member states.
Harbor gives no legal advice. Accessibility documentation is becoming a baseline expectation in procurement.
Who Benefits from Accessible Design
Vision
Blindness, low vision, color blindness
What accessible design covers: Text alternatives, color contrast, resizable text, images of text
Hearing
Deafness, hard of hearing
What accessible design covers: Captions, audio descriptions, sign language support
Motor
Limited fine motor control, paralysis, tremors
What accessible design covers: Keyboard navigation, no keyboard traps, adequate target sizes, adjustable timing
Cognitive
Learning disabilities, attention disorders, memory challenges
What accessible design covers: Consistent navigation, clear error messages, labels and instructions, readable content
Neurological
Epilepsy, autism spectrum, migraines
What accessible design covers: Flash limits, reduced animation, pause and stop controls
Speech
Stuttering, mutism, speech impairments
What accessible design covers: Flexible input methods, accessible authentication
The Numbers
- 1 in 4
- adults in the U.S. live with a disability (CDC, 2023)
- 96.3%
- of home pages have detectable WCAG failures (WebAIM Million, 2024)
- $13T
- estimated annual disposable income of people with disabilities globally (Return on Disability, 2020)
See Where You Stand
Audits are priced by unique template rather than by page count, so a large catalogue on a few layouts does not inflate the fee. Fifteen minutes on a call is enough to size yours and fix it in writing.
For a smaller first look, a Quick Check covers up to five pages and comes back as a plain-language findings report. It is not a signed conformance document, so if procurement has asked for one, say so on the call and we will point you at the right thing.