An accessibility statement is a public page on your website that describes your accessibility commitment, your conformance target, your known limitations, and how a user can report a problem.

Publishing one is part of a good faith ADA compliance effort. Publishing one that is vague, boilerplate, or overpromising is worse than publishing nothing. This article walks through what a statement should contain and gives you a template you can adapt.

What a statement has to do

A useful accessibility statement accomplishes three things.

Tell users what your target is. Users with disabilities read accessibility statements to decide whether your site will work for them. A specific statement helps them decide. A vague one does not.

Establish a feedback channel. Users who encounter problems need a way to report them that does not require going through your sales team or support queue. A dedicated email that a real person answers is the standard.

Create a dated record of your commitment. The statement is evidence in a Title III defense. The date on it matters. Its specificity matters.

What a statement should not do

Claim full WCAG 2.1 AA conformance unless it is true. If your site does not meet the standard, claiming it does is an admission against interest if a letter arrives. Describe what you target, not what you have achieved.

Describe features that do not exist. A statement that lists keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and high-contrast mode is a statement that will be tested against the actual site. If any of those claims is false, the statement becomes evidence of misrepresentation.

Be vague in a way that looks performative. "We strive to make our website accessible" is not a statement. It is marketing copy. It does not help a user. It does not help you in court.

Skip the feedback channel. A statement without a way to contact you is interpreted as a statement that you do not want feedback.

The template

Replace bracketed items with your facts. Every line below is here because it serves a purpose. Do not cut sections without understanding what they do.


Accessibility Statement for [Your Business Name]

Last updated: [Date]

[Your Business Name] is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of ability. We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.

Conformance status

We aim to conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines helps make the web more user-friendly for everyone.

Our website is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. "Partially conformant" means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

Our website is designed to be compatible with recent versions of the following browsers:

  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Edge

We have tested our content with the following assistive technologies:

  • [List the assistive technology you have actually tested with, for example NVDA on Windows, VoiceOver on macOS. If you have not tested with any, remove this section rather than leaving it blank.]

Known limitations

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of [your website URL], there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

  • [List known limitations. Example: some older PDF documents predating 2023 are not fully accessible and are being reviewed as part of our remediation plan. If you need an accessible version of a specific document, please contact us.]

  • [Another limitation if applicable.]

Assessment approach

We assess the accessibility of our website in the following ways:

  • Self-evaluation using automated tools including [name of tool, for example axe DevTools].
  • Manual testing of keyboard navigation and screen reader usability on key flows.
  • [If you engage a third-party evaluator, name them and the date of their most recent evaluation.]

Our most recent assessment was completed on [date].

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of our website. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers:

We try to respond to accessibility feedback within [number] business days.

Enforcement procedure

If the above feedback channels do not resolve your concern, you may contact the relevant enforcement agency:

  • U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section, for complaints under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Your state Attorney General's office for state-level accessibility complaints.

This statement was prepared on [date] using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool as a reference.


Why each section is written that way

The opening paragraph. Describes intent without overclaiming. "Committed to providing" is different from "guarantees." "Actively working" is different from "compliant."

Conformance status. The critical phrase is "partially conformant." This is an honest state for almost every website, including very large ones. The W3C provides this exact language in its template. Claiming full conformance is both unusual and risky.

Browsers and assistive technology. Tells users what you have tested. If you have not tested with assistive technology, say so by omitting the section or listing what you have done. Do not list technologies you have not actually tested.

Known limitations. Honest acknowledgment of problems that exist. A user who encounters a listed limitation will not be surprised. A user who encounters an unlisted one can report it, which is the point of the feedback channel.

Assessment approach. Tells readers what methodology you use. Shows that the statement is backed by actual work.

Feedback. The most important section for a plaintiff defense. A responsive feedback channel is evidence of ongoing engagement. The channel must actually be staffed. An unused email address is worse than no email address. Track every feedback item in your remediation log.

Enforcement procedure. Points users to formal routes if your channel does not resolve their concern. Required by W3C guidance. Shows you are not trying to trap users in a private complaint process.

Where to put the statement

Link to it from the footer of every page of your site. "Accessibility" is the standard link text. Some sites link from the header as well.

The statement itself lives at a stable URL like /accessibility. Do not move or rename it. External links to the statement may exist, including from accessibility research databases.

When to update the statement

Update the "Last updated" date any time you update the content. Do not update just the date without updating the content; it weakens the statement's credibility.

A practical cadence. Update quarterly to reflect remediation progress. Update after any major site change. Update if your feedback channel or contact information changes.

If your site is currently worse than the statement suggests

Do not publish a statement that overstates your compliance. If your statement claims WCAG 2.1 AA conformance and your site has three hundred critical findings, you have created evidence against yourself.

The better path. Publish a statement that is honest about partial conformance, lists the major known limitations, and commits to continued remediation. Over the following months, do the remediation and update the known-limitations section as items are addressed. That pattern is what courts recognize as a good faith effort program.

This template is general guidance, not legal advice. For a statement tied to an active claim or a specific business situation, consult a licensed attorney.