ADA Lawsuit-Risk Report

Site: [REDACTED] — independent home-goods store (Shopify) · Scan date: sample · Pages reviewed: homepage, collection, product, cart, checkout start, contact

72
HIGH RISK
Multiple issues matching the patterns most cited in 2025 demand letters. Recommended: fix the HIGH items within 30 days.

Findings

HIGH

1. Product images missing text alternatives

Where: /products/* — 34 of 41 product images have empty or missing alt text (WCAG 1.1.1).

Why plaintiffs care: missing alt text is the single most cited issue in e-commerce demand letters; it's trivially detectable by plaintiffs' scanning tools.

Fix: add concise alt text to every product image in Shopify (Products → image → alt text), e.g. "Hand-thrown stoneware mug, speckled glaze". ~1 hour for this catalog.
HIGH

2. Checkout button unreachable by keyboard

Where: /cart — the "Checkout" button cannot receive keyboard focus (WCAG 2.1.1).

Why plaintiffs care: keyboard traps and unreachable controls are a favorite exhibit — easy to demonstrate in court.

Fix: ensure the button is a real <button> element (not a div with a click handler) so it is natively focusable. Developer task, ~30 min.
HIGH

3. No accessibility statement page

Where: site-wide — no /accessibility page and no accessibility contact method.

Why plaintiffs care: absence of a statement + contact is routinely quoted in complaints as evidence of indifference.

Fix: publish a one-page accessibility statement with a contact email for accessibility feedback. Template provided with paid reports.
MEDIUM

4. Low-contrast body text on sale banners

Where: homepage promo banner — light gray text on pale background, contrast ratio ~2.1:1 (WCAG 1.4.3 requires 4.5:1).

Fix: darken text to reach 4.5:1; we include the exact color values in paid reports.
MEDIUM

5. Form labels missing on newsletter signup

Where: footer newsletter field has placeholder text but no <label> (WCAG 3.3.2).

Fix: add a visually-hidden label or aria-label to the input. ~10 minutes.
MEDIUM

6. 7 empty links in navigation

Where: header/footer social icons are links with no accessible name (WCAG 4.1.2).

Fix: add aria-labels ("Instagram", "Facebook", …). ~15 minutes.

This is a risk triage based on automated scanning — not a certification and not legal advice. Automated checks cover a minority of WCAG criteria; a clean scan is not a clean bill of health. ← Back to Reports Lab