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Website accessibility for law firms, without the scare tactics.

Illinois saw 585 federal website accessibility lawsuits in 2025. Here is what the standard asks of your site, and what an accessibility widget can and cannot do.

By Mark Jarvis, Settled Sites ยท Updated

In short.

Illinois had 585 federal website accessibility lawsuits in 2025, the third most of any state, according to Seyfarth Shaw. The standard these claims point to is WCAG 2.2 at level AA: readable contrast, described images, full keyboard use and labeled forms. Overlay widgets do not change the site underneath, so they do not make it conform.

The numbers.

Seyfarth Shaw counted 3,117 federal website accessibility lawsuits in 2025, up from 2,452 in 2024. Illinois had 585 of them, the third most of any state after New York and Florida. Most target businesses that serve the public, and a law firm is one.

Whether the Americans with Disabilities Act requires a private business website to meet a specific technical standard is still argued in the courts. In practice, the standard every demand letter points to is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, WCAG, at level AA.

Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog, March 25, 2026.

What WCAG 2.2 AA asks, in plain terms.

  • Text people can read. Enough contrast between text and background, and text that can be enlarged without breaking the page.
  • Pictures that are described. Photos have a short text alternative; decorative images are marked so screen readers skip them.
  • A keyboard can do everything. Menus, forms and buttons work without a mouse, and you can see where you are.
  • Forms that explain themselves. Every field has a label, and errors say what is wrong.
  • Video with captions. If your site has video, it needs captions.

About overlay widgets.

An overlay is a script that adds an accessibility button to a site. It does not change the site underneath, so the missing labels and poor contrast are still there for anyone using their own screen reader. Overlays have been named in lawsuits rather than preventing them. We fix the site itself and do not use them.

Five things to test on your own site today.

  • Press Tab repeatedly from the top of your homepage. Can you always see where you are, and reach the contact form?
  • Zoom your browser to 200 percent. Does anything overlap or disappear?
  • Look at your lightest gray text. Can you read it outside on a phone?
  • Open your contact form and click into a field. Does it have a visible label, or only placeholder text that vanishes?
  • Check that your phone number is real text, not part of an image.

If any of these fail, the free review will tell you what else does.

Settled Sites is a web design studio, not a law firm. This guide is general information about websites, not legal advice. Check the current rules and your own circumstances.