Manual WCAG 2.1 AA testing, organized evidence package, and attorney opinion letter delivered in 5 weeks for a fixed $8,500 fee. Built for service businesses doing $1M–$10M in revenue who need more than a $50 plugin or automated scan.

This is the audit you wish you had before a demand letter arrives — not after.

Here's what you're getting: Eight comprehensive testing modules covering automated scans, manual keyboard navigation, screen reader usability, and PDF accessibility. Every finding documented with screenshots and video recordings. Every issue cataloged in a prioritized remediation roadmap. Every piece of evidence timestamped and organized in folders your attorney can use tomorrow.

And here's what makes this different from every other accessibility audit: a licensed attorney reviews your complete package and issues a formal opinion letter certifying your compliance process. That's the document that changes settlement negotiations.

For eligible businesses, federal tax credits can reduce your net cost to approximately $4,375. We'll explain exactly how that works and give you the documentation your CPA needs to claim it.

What Is an ADA Website Audit? (And Why Most People Get This Wrong)

An ADA website audit is a comprehensive accessibility review that tests whether your website can be used by people with disabilities, following WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards — the technical baseline referenced in DOJ guidance and cited in virtually every ADA website settlement agreement.

But here's what most business owners don't understand: there's a massive difference between running a $500 automated scan and conducting a professional audit that holds up in legal proceedings.

The automated scan companies want you to believe their tool is enough. Run the scan, get a report, fix the violations, you're done. Except that's not how accessibility actually works, and it's definitely not what judges and plaintiff attorneys consider adequate compliance efforts.

Here's the reality: automated accessibility tools detect roughly 30–40% of the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from using your website. They're excellent at catching missing alt text, broken HTML, and obvious color contrast failures. They're completely useless at evaluating whether your site actually works when someone tries to use it.

Can a user navigate your entire website using only a keyboard?

Automated tools can't test that. They can identify that you have interactive elements, but they can't tell you if those elements are actually accessible via Tab, Enter, and Arrow keys. They can't tell you if your focus indicators are visible. They can't tell you if your skip navigation links work. They can't tell you if someone can complete your contact form without touching a mouse.

Does your website make sense when read aloud by a screen reader?

Automated tools have no idea. They can verify that you have alt text on images, but they can't judge whether that alt text is contextually appropriate. They can check your heading structure, but they can't tell you if the reading order is logical when a screen reader announces it. They can't evaluate whether your form error messages are helpful or confusing when heard out loud instead of seen on screen.

Are your downloadable PDFs accessible?

Most automated scans skip PDFs entirely. They might tell you that you have downloadable documents, but they won't tell you if those documents are tagged for screen readers, if the reading order makes sense, or if someone using assistive technology can actually navigate them.

This is why the gap between compliance and defense exists. Compliance means running the tools and fixing what they find. Defense means testing how your site actually works for real users with real disabilities, documenting those findings systematically, and having an attorney certify that your process was thorough, professional, and legally defensible.

What's Actually Included in the ADA Defense Audit

The ADA Defense Audit covers eight modules, each producing specific deliverables that contribute to your evidence package.

Module 1: Site Inventory and Scope Mapping. We crawl your entire website to identify every page, form, interactive element, downloadable file, and embedded tool that falls within the scope of accessibility standards. This becomes the foundation for all subsequent testing.

Module 2: Automated Multi-Tool Scanning. We run WAVE, axe, Lighthouse, and color contrast analyzers across every page. These tools catch the 30–40% of issues they're capable of detecting and generate the baseline data that gets incorporated into your evidence package.

Module 3: Manual Keyboard Navigation Testing. A human tester navigates your entire website using only a keyboard — Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, and Arrow keys — attempting to complete every user flow. Every form. Every menu. Every modal. Every booking or checkout process. Issues are documented with screenshots and step-by-step reproduction notes.

Module 4: Screen Reader Usability Testing. Your site is loaded in NVDA with Chrome and VoiceOver with Safari. We record these sessions. We evaluate whether the content makes logical sense when read aloud — not just whether the underlying code is structurally correct. We listen for missing announcements, confusing sequences, and form error messages that don't help the user understand what went wrong.

Module 5: PDF and Document Accessibility. Every downloadable PDF is opened in accessibility checkers and manually reviewed for tag structure, reading order, form field labels, and language settings. We document specific findings for each document and provide remediation guidance your document team can act on.

Module 6: Evidence Collection and Organization. Every finding gets organized into a timestamped evidence folder in Google Drive. Screenshots are labeled and categorized. Screen recording clips are trimmed and annotated. The complete folder is structured so your attorney — or opposing counsel in a legal proceeding — can navigate it immediately.

Module 7: Centralized Issues Log and Remediation Roadmap. All findings are entered into a Google Sheets issues log with severity rating, WCAG criterion reference, screenshot and recording links, written fix recommendation, suggested team assignment, and effort estimate. Issues are prioritized into three tiers: must-fix (legal exposure), should-fix (significant barriers), and nice-to-fix (best practice improvements).

Module 8: Attorney Review, Certification, and Opinion Letter. The complete package goes to a licensed attorney who reviews the testing methodology, findings, and evidence organization. The attorney certifies that the audit represents a professional, thorough assessment of your website's accessibility status and issues a formal opinion letter. This letter is what changes the dynamics of any demand letter negotiation. The attorney's involvement may also create attorney-client privilege for sensitive findings — a legal protection no automated tool can provide.

The Attorney Opinion Letter: Why It Matters

When a plaintiff's attorney sends a demand letter, they're making a business calculation. They're assessing how much work it would take to pursue this case versus the likely settlement value. Part of that calculation is: what evidence can this business produce about their accessibility efforts?

If your answer is "we ran a free WAVE scan and our developer added some alt text," the calculation is easy. You have no documented process, no organized evidence, and no legal review. You'll likely settle quickly because you have nothing to defend with.

If your answer is "we engaged a professional firm, conducted eight modules of testing including manual keyboard and screen reader sessions, organized every finding into a timestamped evidence package, and had a licensed attorney review and certify the entire process," the calculation changes. You're a harder target. You have documentation. You have legal backing. You're prepared to defend your position.

The opinion letter is the document that makes this real. It's not just a technical report — it's a licensed attorney saying: this business took accessibility seriously, tested systematically, and documented their efforts professionally. That carries legal weight that no tool, scan, or overlay widget can replicate.

What the ADA Defense Audit Is NOT

We want to be direct about what this engagement does and doesn't do, because managing expectations is how we build trust with the right clients.

The ADA Defense Audit is not a magic wand that automatically fixes your site's code. Your development team implements the remediation — we give them a clear, prioritized roadmap to do it. We are a compliance firm that produces documentation, not a development shop that writes code.

It is not an absolute guarantee you will never receive a demand letter. Anyone can file a lawsuit. What the audit does is put you in the most defensible position available short of being sued and settling.

It is not an overlay widget or automated scanner report. Those products do not produce legally defensible documentation. Several overlay vendors have been named in ADA lawsuits themselves. We do not install overlays, recommend overlays, or consider overlays a compliance solution.

The Investment and What It Includes

The ADA Defense Audit is a fixed fee of $8,500 for websites up to 50 pages. This is not an hourly engagement. There are no surprise overages. Everything described above is included in a single fixed price.

For eligible small businesses, the federal Disabled Access Credit (IRC Section 44) provides up to $4,125 in tax credits on an $8,500 audit — reducing your net cost to approximately $4,375. That's a 49% effective discount before you claim any additional business expense deductions. We'll give you the documentation your CPA needs to claim the credit correctly.

For comparison: assembling the same package independently would require hiring an accessibility consultant at $150–$200 per hour for testing, a project manager at $100–$150 per hour for documentation, and an attorney at $300–$500 per hour for legal review. The same deliverables assembled separately would cost $12,000–$18,000. We deliver it in one integrated engagement at a fixed price.