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Website accessibility for medical practices: an ADA checklist for practice teams

The front desk of a medical practice seen from the waiting area

A practice website can be where a new patient first reads about a treatment, finds the phone number or sends a request. This guide is for practice owners and the people who run the website: why the ADA applies to it, which barriers the Justice Department names, a short checklist based on WCAG 2.2, and how to keep it up.

  1. SearchAn adult looks for care near them.
  2. Your pageWhat you treat, who sees them, one way to book.
  3. Call or formThey call or send a request.
  4. Front deskBooks the visit and never guesses a cause.
  5. Clinical teamThe clinician decides the plan.
How a new patient request reaches your practice.

1. Why the ADA reaches your website

Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act covers public accommodations, and the definition in 42 U.S.C. 12181(7) lists the “professional office of a health care provider” among them. The Justice Department’s guidance on web accessibility says the Department has consistently taken the position that the ADA’s requirements apply to all the goods, services, privileges or activities offered by public accommodations, including those offered on the web.

The same guidance says businesses have flexibility in how they comply with the ADA’s general requirements of nondiscrimination and effective communication, and points to existing technical standards, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Section 508 Standards the federal government uses for its own websites. WCAG makes a practical working checklist for a practice site.

2. The barriers the Justice Department names

The guidance gives examples of common barriers and of what to check, including:

  • poor color contrast, which makes text hard to read for people with limited vision or color blindness;
  • images without text alternatives (alt text), which screen reader users cannot hear;
  • videos without captions, which people with hearing disabilities may not be able to follow;
  • mouse-only navigation, which blocks people who cannot use a mouse or trackpad;
  • forms without labels, keyboard access and clear instructions, including clear error messages;
  • pages that do not work when people use the browser’s zoom to make text larger.

3. A practical checklist for a practice site

Each item below maps to a WCAG 2.2 success criterion your web team can look up:

  • Text alternatives: every meaningful image, including before-and-after photos, logos used as links and icons that act as buttons, has alt text that serves the same purpose (1.1.1 Non-text Content).
  • Captions: treatment and welcome videos have accurate captions (1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded)).
  • Contrast: normal text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, including text over hero images and on buttons (1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)).
  • Zoom: text can be resized up to 200 percent without breaking the page (1.4.4 Resize Text).
  • Keyboard: menus, the request form, booking widgets, chat and cookie banners all work with a keyboard alone (2.1.1 Keyboard).
  • Forms: every field has a label or instructions, and errors say what went wrong and how to fix it (3.3.2 Labels or Instructions, 3.3.1 Error Identification).

4. Start with the pages that bring patients in

If you cannot fix everything at once, start where a new patient acts: the home page, treatment pages, the contact page and the request form. Our checklist for new patient request forms covers the form itself. Check third-party pieces too: online booking, chat, payment and review widgets are part of what the patient uses, so ask each vendor how their tool meets WCAG and test it yourself with a keyboard.

Keep a visible phone number and other ways to reach the practice on every page, so a person who cannot use one part of the site can still contact you.

5. Treat automated tools and overlays with care

The Justice Department says automated accessibility checkers and overlays can be helpful tools but need to be used carefully, like spelling or grammar checkers: a clean report does not necessarily mean everything is accessible, and a report with a few errors does not necessarily mean there are barriers. Use a checker to find likely issues, then test the key pages by hand: tab through them with the keyboard, zoom to 200 percent, and try them with a screen reader.

6. Keep it accessible

  • Name one person responsible for accessibility on the website.
  • Add an accessibility check to every new page, campaign landing page and plugin or theme update.
  • Publish a way for people to report problems, and answer them promptly.
  • Record what you tested, when, and what you fixed.

Where MediLeadGen fits

A site that more people can use is a site more patients can contact you through. MediLeadGen adds requests from patients interested in cash-pay elective treatments, each sent to one practice with consent naming that practice, at a fixed price per delivered request.

See how it works for practices

Questions practices ask

Does the ADA apply to a medical practice website?

Title III covers public accommodations, and 42 U.S.C. 12181(7) lists the professional office of a health care provider. The Justice Department’s position is that the ADA’s requirements apply to goods and services public accommodations offer on the web.

Which standard should our website follow?

The Justice Department says businesses have flexibility in how they comply and points to existing standards such as WCAG and the Section 508 Standards. WCAG 2.2 makes a practical working checklist; ask counsel which level fits your situation.

Will an accessibility overlay or plugin make our site compliant?

Do not rely on one alone. The Justice Department says automated checkers and overlays need to be used carefully, and a clean report does not necessarily mean everything is accessible. Test key pages by hand as well.

Where should we start?

With the pages where patients act: the home page, treatment pages, the contact page and the request form, plus any booking, chat or payment widgets on them. Check contrast, alt text, captions, keyboard access, form labels and zoom.

General information for practice teams, not legal advice. Accessibility obligations depend on your situation and on federal and state law; review your website with counsel and an accessibility specialist. Last reviewed October 2026.

More resources

All resources for practices