♿ A $5 Million Wake-Up Call: Why Small Businesses Can’t Ignore the ADA
The "It Won't Happen to Me" Trap
We all saw the headlines: Massive ADA digital accessibility settlements, often costing millions. Many small business owners shrug, thinking those lawsuits are only reserved for giants like Domino's, Target, or Fashion Nova.
That is the trap.
The truth is that while major companies make big news, smaller, less-resourced businesses are increasingly the target of "serial plaintiffs." Why? They are easier targets. They are less likely to have in-house legal teams or the budget to fight a drawn-out battle.
The goal here isn't to scare you; it's to give you the strategic insight to protect your assets, just like I advise on securing your email lists and website backend. Ignoring the legal risk of an inaccessible website is the same as leaving the backend of your WordPress site unprotected.
The Cost of Complacency
A single ADA demand letter can drain your focus and budget instantly. Even if a suit is dismissed, the costs pile up:
Legal Fees: Hiring an attorney to draft a response and negotiate a settlement.
Settlement Costs: Often settling out of court for a five-figure sum just to make the problem go away.
Remediation: Then you still have to pay a developer to fix the site after you’ve paid the fine.
This distracts you from what really matters: growing your business.
Compliance is Cheaper Than a Lawsuit
My clients know I am always focused on ROI. When it comes to accessibility, the ROI is simple: risk mitigation. Proactive compliance is vastly cheaper than reactive litigation.
You don’t have to hire a team of dedicated developers to manually rewrite every line of code. Modern AI tools and overlays are designed to provide a highly compliant layer over your existing website at a fraction of the cost of a full manual audit and fix.
Your Action Plan for Risk Mitigation:
Stop Ignoring It: Acknowledge that the risk is real and growing.
Get a Statement: Ensure you have a visible, professionally drafted Accessibility Statement on your footer. This is a critical first line of defense.
Automate Protection: Implement a third-party accessibility solution to show a "good faith" effort toward compliance.
Don’t let a legal threat interrupt your growth trajectory. Protect your website, and you protect your business.