"I had no idea our website could even be sued. It's just a simple site. How were we supposed to know?"
— a coffee-shop owner after writing a $72,000 settlement check
Meet Linda. She runs a six-employee boutique in Austin, sells handmade candles online, and spends exactly zero minutes a day thinking about the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Last quarter she received a 7-page FedEx envelope: a demand letter from a New York law firm claiming her Shopify store violates federal law because a blind customer couldn't buy a $22 candle.
Cost to make it go away: $48,500, more than her annual ad budget.
Linda is not an outlier. In just the first half of this year, over 2,000 lawsuits have been filed. And the likelihood of experiencing such lawsuits is only increasing: a 37% rise compared to last year.
Why Small Businesses? Because You're "Easy Money"
Law firms tactically play a volume game. They run automated scanners that crawl the internet 24/7 looking for WCAG violations: missing alt-text, broken keyboard paths, color-contrast fails.
When the bot scores a hit, a paralegal opens a template, changes the URL, and fires off demand letters in batches of fifty.
- You get 21 days to respond.
- Fight it and you'll pay $150k+ to reach a jury.
- Settle quickly and you're done for the price of a luxury car.
Most owners settle, then spend the next six months paying it off on credit cards.
The Empathy Check (Yes, We're Human)
Behind every lawsuit is a real person.
One in four U.S. adults—61 million people—has a disability. They're moms who want to send cookie-grams to their kids, veterans who need new running blades, teens who just want the same sneakers everyone else has.
When your site works for them, you're not "checking a legal box"; you're inviting people to the party, and their money spends the same.
Your Next Three Steps (Do Them This Week)
1. Quick Self-Audit (No Tech Degree Required)
Here's a simple checklist you can run through in under five minutes:
Keyboard test: Unplug your mouse. Can you reach every link, menu, and checkout button with only Tab + Enter?
Images test: Right-click a product photo, select "Inspect." Is there plain-English alt="..." text?
Colors test: Use the free tool "WebAIM Contrast Checker." Is the ratio 4.5:1 or higher?
Forms test: Submit the contact form with empty fields. Do error messages appear in text (not just red outlines)?
Fail any of the above? You're statistically non-compliant, and one automated scanner away from a lawsuit.
2. Spend 15 Minutes Reading the Real Rules
Bookmark these two pages and skim them over coffee:
- ADA.gov – Introduction to Web Accessibility
- W3C – WCAG 2.2 Quick Reference
You don't have to memorize the guidelines; just get familiar with the language so you can ask informed questions when you hire help.
3. Run a Free Scan and Book a Chat With Woffy
Start with a free accessibility scan — Woffy's scanner checks your site against WCAG 2.2 AA in seconds and shows you exactly what needs fixing. No signup required.
Then book a 20-minute chat where we'll answer any ADA questions you have and give you a fair evaluation of the solution that works best for you.
We'll walk through:
- Which issues are urgent vs. nice-to-have
- Realistic fix timelines for your platform (Shopify, WordPress, Square, custom)
- Ballpark budgets (spoiler: most small sites land between $1.5k–$5k)
- How to document your progress so any future demand letter meets a brick wall of good-faith evidence
No slide deck, no hard sell. Woffy provides real code-level fixes — not overlays or cosmetic widgets — so you get genuine, affordable ADA compliance without a massive consulting bill.
The Bottom Line
The best way to protect yourself from these aggressive lawsuits is to make good-faith, consistent, and demonstrable efforts toward compliance.
Your website is either an asset or a liability.
Fix it now and your future self will thank you.