ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)
The ADA is the 1990 US federal civil-rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability; Title III applies to public accommodations including ecommerce websites.
Detailed explanation
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title III specifically, prohibits places of public accommodation from discriminating against people with disabilities. US courts have consistently held that ecommerce websites — including Shopify storefronts — are places of public accommodation under Title III.
The ADA does not specify a technical standard. Courts and the DOJ generally treat WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the operative target. The Department of Justice issued Title II web accessibility regulations for state/local government in 2024 that explicitly reference WCAG 2.1 AA; Title III merchants use the same standard as the de-facto benchmark.
Over 5,100 ADA Title III digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in federal court in 2025, with 69% targeting ecommerce. Settlements typically run $5,000–$25,000 plus $10,000–$50,000 in defense legal fees.
How this applies to Shopify stores
Every Shopify store accessible to US customers is potentially subject to ADA Title III. Active remediation records — backups, scan history, and fix records — help merchants document the work they have completed. AccessComply produces this audit trail automatically.
What merchants should check next
Treat this term as a practical audit prompt, not just a definition. Check the storefront pages where the concept shows up in real customer journeys: product discovery, add-to-cart, cart drawer, checkout handoff, account login, and support contact flows. If the issue affects code, verify the rendered HTML and computed browser output after the theme change. If it affects copy or media, keep the merchant-facing wording accurate and easy to maintain.
Primary source: ada.gov