A common misconception among nonprofits is that accessibility compliance requirements apply only to businesses or government agencies. They do not. Nonprofits that operate websites open to the public are covered under ADA Title III, and the consequences of non-compliance are the same as for any other covered entity.
Who the ADA covers
The ADA divides obligations across three titles:
- Title II covers state and local government entities -- including public universities and publicly funded nonprofits that function as government instrumentalities.
- Title III covers places of public accommodation -- which includes nonprofits that operate public-facing websites as part of their services, programs, or activities.
If your nonprofit has a website where the public can access information about your programs, make donations, register for services, or interact with your organization, you are almost certainly covered under Title III.
Why this matters practically
One in four adults in the U.S. has a disability (CDC, 2024). If a nonprofit's website excludes people with disabilities, it is excluding a substantial portion of the people it may be trying to serve. Donation forms, program information, and volunteer signups that are inaccessible directly undermine the mission.
Grant and funding requirements are tightening. Federal grants increasingly require digital accessibility compliance as a condition of funding. State and local funders are following suit. An accessible website is becoming a prerequisite, not a differentiator.
ADA litigation is rising. Digital accessibility lawsuits surged 37% in 2025. Plaintiff attorneys do not distinguish between for-profit and nonprofit defendants. Demonstrating active compliance protects the organization from enforcement actions that could drain limited resources.
What accessibility compliance means technically
The Department of Justice has issued regulations under ADA Title II citing WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the technical standard. While Title III has not yet received equivalent explicit rulemaking, courts have consistently applied the same WCAG 2.1 AA benchmark in Title III cases.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA requires:
- Keyboard accessibility for all interactive elements
- Sufficient color contrast (4.5:1 minimum for body text)
- Text alternatives for all meaningful images
- Captions for all prerecorded video content
- Accessible forms with proper labels and error descriptions
- No content that flashes at rates that can trigger seizures
The Learn section of this site covers each of the 86 WCAG 2.2 success criteria (which are backwards-compatible with WCAG 2.1) with plain-language explanations and practical guidance.
Where to start
Nonprofits often have small web teams and constrained budgets. A practical starting point:
- Identify your highest-traffic pages. Homepage, donation page, program listings, contact form. These reach the most people and carry the most risk.
- Run an automated accessibility check. Automated tools can identify roughly 30-57% of WCAG failures without manual review -- enough to find the most common, highest-impact issues quickly.
- Fix what you can immediately. Missing image alt text, insufficient color contrast, and unlabeled form fields are common, fixable, and high-impact.
- Build accessibility into your publishing process. Staff training and accessible templates do more for long-term compliance than one-time audits.
- Document your efforts. In enforcement contexts, a documented, active remediation effort is treated differently than no effort at all.
Accessibility compliance is not a one-time project -- it is an ongoing commitment. For nonprofits operating on tight budgets, starting with the highest-traffic pages and working systematically is more sustainable than attempting to remediate everything at once.