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ADA · WCAG 2.1 AA · Manual Audits

Websites that work for everyone.

We run the manual accessibility audit automated tools can't, handle the remediation, and hand your legal team the paper trail. Small sites wrap in about two weeks.

Start the free scan See what's included
Our services

What we deliver

Three offerings. Free scan to find the exposure. Expert audit to map it. Full remediation to make it go away.

  1. 01
    No Cost

    The Free Scan

    Drop your URL. We run axe, Lighthouse, and our own WCAG 2.1 AA checker, then do a quick screen-reader pass with VoiceOver. You get a risk score and the top violations back by end of day. No credit card. Honestly, about one in ten sites we scan comes back clean enough that we tell the client not to bother with a paid audit.

    Instant WCAG 2.1 scoringContrast + ARIA checksVoiceOver passMobile auditRisk summary
  2. 02
    Expert Review

    The Expert Audit

    Automated scans miss roughly 60% of the issues that actually land in demand letters. Accessibility overlay widgets like AccessiBe and UserWay miss even more, and they're now getting sued alongside the sites that installed them. So we do the real work by hand. A specialist walks every template, tests keyboard traps, reads the markup for ARIA errors, and logs each violation with severity, screenshot evidence, and a specific fix. Back in 48 hours.

    Manual expert reviewSeverity rankingScreenshot evidence48-hour turnaroundRemediation roadmap
  3. 03
    Done-For-You

    The Remediation

    We rebuild the structure underneath your brand, quietly, without touching the parts that make it look like yours. Design, code, ARIA, content, even the PDFs nobody wants to think about. Every violation closed against WCAG 2.1 AA, every change documented in a VPAT your legal team can hand to a court without flinching. Small WordPress and Shopify sites wrap in 10–14 business days. Enterprise, we scope up front. No surprises.

    Code + design fixesARIA & semanticsTagged PDFsVPAT documentationOngoing monitoring
The payoff

Benefits of full accessibility compliance

Compliance is the floor. What the work actually buys you is bigger. Four outcomes most of our clients feel on their P&L within a single quarter.

Avg. demand letter U.S. federal court · 2024
$75,000
  • Legal defense$25K
  • Settlement$35K
  • Consent decree$15K
Source: Seyfarth Shaw ADA Title III report
01 / 04

Legal protection that actually holds up.

ADA Title III and WCAG 2.1 give every user the legal right to equal access. One demand letter from a serial plaintiff runs $15K–$75K by the time defense, settlement, and the consent decree are paid. A full audit costs a fraction of that and kills the claim before it starts.

  • Manual WCAG 2.1 AA audit with screenshot evidence
  • VPAT documentation your legal team can file
  • Cure-letter templates ready if a claim arrives
Shield my site
02 / 04

The market most brands quietly leave on the table.

1 in 4 U.S. adults, 61 million people, lives with a disability. They're paying customers who navigate the web differently. Accessible design isn't a niche gesture; it's a revenue line competitors aren't bothering to serve.

  • Keyboard-navigable forms and checkouts
  • Screen-reader-tested content hierarchy
  • Captions, transcripts, and alt text done right
Open the market
1 in 4 U.S. adults · 61M people
Lives with a disability General population
+25% Organic traffic, 90 days post-remediation
100Before
108Day 30
118Day 60
125Day 90
03 / 04

Search engines read your site like a screen reader does.

Google's crawler and assistive tech walk the same DOM. When we fix heading order, alt text, ARIA, and landmarks, rankings move with them. Over 70% of remediated sites we track see measurable gains inside a quarter.

  • Semantic heading + landmark structure
  • Alt text rewritten for intent, not filler
  • Schema + ARIA patterns Google rewards
Climb the rankings
04 / 04

Get up to $5,000 back from the IRS.

IRS Section 44 gives small businesses (under $1M revenue or 30 employees) a federal tax credit for accessibility work: 50% of eligible spending between $250 and $10,250. File Form 8826. Most CPAs won't bring it up. Ask yours.

  • Itemized receipts matched to Form 8826
  • Eligible-expense letter for your CPA
  • Audit-ready documentation trail
Run your numbers
IRS §44 calculator

Your estimated credit

$ 2,375 of a $5,000 max
$250 $5K $10,250

Credit = 50% of spending between $250 and $10,250. Max $5,000/yr.

State enforcement

State compliance laws

Federal ADA Title III is the floor. Eight states stack their own enforcement on top, with penalties that move with each plaintiff. Pick a state to see what exposure looks like in practice.

8States with stacked laws
$4,000Max CA penalty / violation
2,400+CA web cases in 2024
WCAG 2.1 AAMost common standard

California

All commercial sites serving California residents

since 1959
Governing law

Unruh Civil Rights Act

The most aggressive web-accessibility statute in the country. Plaintiffs don't have to prove harm. Statutory damages are automatic. Most U.S. digital-ADA filings happen here.

  • Statutory minimum $4,000 per plaintiff, per visit
  • Private right of action, no agency required
  • Stacks on top of federal ADA Title III claims
  • 2,400+ California web cases filed in 2024
Penalty exposure $4,000 per violation Check my CA exposure

New York

Places of public accommodation, interpreted to include websites

since 2019 (web case law)
Governing law

State Human Rights Law

New York stacks state civil-rights penalties on top of federal ADA claims. Serial plaintiffs in the Southern District of New York drive a steady stream of demand letters every week.

  • Punitive + compensatory damages available
  • No statutory cap on penalties
  • Attorney fee shifting to the prevailing plaintiff
  • SDNY is the #2 filing court nationwide
Penalty exposure Punitive damages + federal ADA claims Check my NY exposure

Colorado

State agencies and public-facing state-funded sites

July 2024
Governing law

House Bill 21-1110

Colorado's HB 21-1110 took effect in July 2024 and requires WCAG 2.1 AA for every state and local-government digital service. Private-sector enforcement follows via attorney-general referrals.

  • WCAG 2.1 AA is the explicit standard
  • Enforced by the Colorado Civil Rights Division
  • Up to $3,500 per violation
  • Applies to contractors doing state business
Penalty exposure Up to $3,500 in civil fines Check my CO exposure

Illinois

State agencies, universities, and public bodies

since 2007
Governing law

Illinois IT Accessibility Act (IITAA)

IITAA has required state-level digital accessibility since 2007, and the Illinois Human Rights Act extends civil-rights enforcement to private businesses that serve the public.

  • One of the earliest state web-accessibility laws
  • IHRA covers private public-accommodations
  • Administrative review + civil remedies
  • WCAG 2.0 AA minimum, WCAG 2.1 AA for new procurement
Penalty exposure Civil rights violation Check my IL exposure

Virginia

Virginia state agencies and higher-education sites

since 2002
Governing law

Virginia IT Accessibility Act

Virginia was one of the first states to codify accessibility for state IT. Agencies that fail to comply can lose procurement rights and face formal non-compliance referrals.

  • Applies to every state agency + VA colleges
  • Procurement must include accessibility clauses
  • Non-compliance findings reported to the Governor
  • Section 508 alignment for federal pass-through funds
Penalty exposure Non-compliance penalties + funding loss Check my VA exposure

Massachusetts

State agencies and contractors

since 2005
Governing law

Enterprise Accessibility Policy

Massachusetts enforces digital accessibility through its Enterprise Accessibility Policy. Non-compliant vendors can lose contracts and face public findings from the State IT department.

  • WCAG 2.1 AA required for new procurement
  • Vendor contract clauses enforce compliance
  • Mandatory accessibility in the RFP process
  • Stacks on federal ADA obligations
Penalty exposure Contract + policy violation actions Check my MA exposure

Texas

State agencies and higher-education institutions

since 2006
Governing law

Texas Administrative Code §206

Texas Administrative Code §206 binds every state agency and public university to WCAG-aligned web standards. Enforcement is administrative, with annual reporting to the Department of Information Resources.

  • Annual accessibility audits required
  • Department of Information Resources enforcement
  • Procurement must include accessibility language
  • Failures reported to the Legislature
Penalty exposure Administrative penalties + audits Check my TX exposure
The journey

The process

Exposed on Monday. Documented by month's end. No hourly billing, no handoffs between five different vendors. One auditor, one track, one clear finish line.

  1. 01
    Day 0 Same day

    Submit Your Site

    Fill the form. We confirm scope the same business day. You don't hear from a salesperson. You hear from the auditor who will actually do the work.

    • URL and scope locked
    • Goals + constraints noted
    • Priority pages flagged
  2. 02
    Day 1–2 48 hours

    The Review

    Automated scans first, then a manual pass. VoiceOver + JAWS, keyboard-only nav, contrast measurement, tagged-PDF checks, and landmark/structure review.

    • axe + Lighthouse scans
    • Manual WCAG 2.1 AA walk
    • Screen-reader pass
    • Keyboard-only audit
  3. 03
    Day 3 24 hours

    Quote + Roadmap

    You get the findings report, severity ranking, and a full remediation roadmap. No surprises. Go or no-go is yours to make.

    • Severity-ranked findings
    • Remediation roadmap
    • Clear scope and timeline
  4. 04
    Day 4–18 10–14 days

    Full Compliance

    We do the work. Changes go through staging, get tested, and ship. Documentation lands alongside the deploy. Every violation closed against WCAG 2.1 AA.

    • Code + design fixes
    • ARIA + semantics
    • VPAT documentation
    • Ongoing monitoring
Questions

Frequently asked questions

What we get asked on the first call. Answered plainly, no hedging, no legal-speak.

Is my website legally required to be ADA compliant?

Yes, if it's public-facing and commercial. Federal courts have applied Title III of the ADA to websites consistently since the 2019 Robles v. Domino's ruling. Several states stack their own enforcement on top. California's Unruh Act alone carries $4,000 per violation.

How does the free accessibility check actually work?

You drop your URL in our form. We run axe, Lighthouse, and our own WCAG 2.1 AA checker, then a quick screen-reader pass with VoiceOver. You get a risk score and the top violations back the same day. No credit card.

What happens after the free scan?

If it's clean, we tell you and move on. If it's not, we follow up within 48 hours with a scope and next steps. You're not obligated to proceed. Plenty of clients take the report to their in-house team and handle it themselves. That's fine.

What does full remediation actually include?

Everything that violates WCAG 2.1 AA. Code, ARIA, keyboard navigation, contrast, focus states, form labels, alt text, tagged PDFs, and the VPAT your legal team can hand to a court. We touch content only where it breaks screen readers, never where it breaks your brand.

How long does full compliance take?

As of April 2026: small WordPress or Shopify sites land in 10–14 business days. Mid-sized marketing sites run 3–4 weeks. Enterprise gets scoped up front with a hard timeline. We don't move a deadline once we've given one.

Will accessibility fixes hurt my design?

No. Good accessibility is good design. We rebuild structure underneath, not surface above. Typography stays, colors stay (sometimes with a small contrast nudge), layout stays. The only time clients notice is when keyboard users start thanking them.

Which WCAG level do you audit against?

WCAG 2.1 Level AA by default, the standard federal courts cite in ADA rulings. We escalate to AAA for healthcare, legal, and government-adjacent work where the bar is higher. Section 508 and EN 301 549 are close cousins, and we cover both.

Do you work with clients outside California?

Yes. Studio AM is based in Los Angeles, but audit and remediation happen remotely for most clients. We've worked with teams in New York, Texas, Colorado, and across Canada. Time zones rarely come up. Most deliverables are async documents anyway.

Does WCAG 2.1 AA compliance guarantee we won't get sued?

No, and any firm that tells you otherwise is wrong. WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard federal courts reference in ADA Title III rulings, but it is not a statutory safe harbor for private businesses. No such rule exists for the private sector. Achieving full conformance is the strongest legal defense currently available. It removes the barriers plaintiffs rely on and documents your good faith effort. But a lawsuit can still be filed even after remediation. In California, the Unruh Civil Rights Act adds $4,000 minimum statutory damages per incident on top of federal ADA claims, making this state particularly aggressive. Our remediation work substantially reduces your legal exposure. It does not constitute legal advice, and it does not guarantee immunity from litigation. Consult qualified legal counsel for your specific situation.

Get started

Book your free scan

Tell us about the site. We'll run it the same business day and come back within 48 hours. You won't hear from a salesperson. You'll hear from the auditor.

No credit card required · Response within 24 hours · Secure

Remediation substantially reduces legal risk but does not guarantee immunity from ADA or Unruh Act claims. This service does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified counsel for your specific situation.

Request received!

We'll run your scan the same business day and be back within 48 hours.

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Accessibility is ongoing.

Websites evolve. Standards update. Regular reviews keep you protected. Let's build an accessible future together.

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