Demand Letters
An accessibility demand letter is a formal notice of alleged accessibility violations and an invitation—or threat—to resolve the matter without litigation.
Immediate Steps on Receipt
- Do not ignore the letter. Deadlines matter. Failure to respond within stated timeframes may accelerate litigation.
- Record the date of receipt precisely
- Identify the sender, their legal representation, and the claimed violations
- Forward to legal counsel immediately
- Do not respond directly without legal review
- Do not make public statements about the letter
- Initiate a litigation hold on relevant documentation
Understanding the Allegations
Work with your accessibility team and legal counsel to evaluate the allegations:
- Are the identified barriers real and reproducible?
- Which WCAG criteria are implicated?
- What is the regulatory framework cited (ADA, Rehabilitation Act, etc.)?
- Is this a targeted, well-researched complaint or a mass-mailed template letter?
- What does your existing accessibility documentation show about these barriers?
Internal Escalation
An accessibility demand letter is a business and legal matter, not just a technical one. Escalate appropriately and quickly.
Escalation Path
- Notify General Counsel or outside legal counsel immediately
- Brief the Chief Accessibility Officer or accessibility program lead
- Notify executive leadership per your incident response procedure
- Engage PR/Communications if public disclosure risk exists
- Inform relevant product owners of affected products
- Activate any relevant insurance carrier notification requirements
Incident Response Team
Establish a cross-functional accessibility incident response team before you need it. The team should include:
- Legal counsel (internal and/or external)
- Chief Accessibility Officer or senior accessibility lead
- Product leadership for affected products
- Communications/PR representative
- HR (if employee accommodation issues are raised)
Working with Legal Counsel
Your legal counsel needs to understand your accessibility program to effectively represent your organization. Prepare them well.
Briefing Your Attorneys
- Provide your accessibility policies and governance documentation
- Share your current and historical audit records
- Describe your accessibility testing program and cadence
- Explain your remediation tracking and progress
- Provide training records showing staff have received accessibility training
- Share accessibility statement history
Selecting Accessibility Experts
Legal counsel may need to retain accessibility experts. Characteristics of qualified experts include:
- CPACC, WAS, or CPWA certification from IAAP
- Demonstrated experience with WCAG auditing and testing
- Familiarity with assistive technology testing
- Prior expert witness experience if litigation proceeds
- Independence from your organization (for credibility)
Preserving Documentation
Once litigation is reasonably anticipated, you have a legal duty to preserve relevant documents. Failure to do so can result in sanctions.
Litigation Hold Process
- Issue a formal litigation hold notice to all relevant custodians
- Identify and preserve all accessibility audit records
- Preserve testing evidence, screenshots, and reports
- Suspend routine document destruction policies for covered materials
- Preserve communications (email, Slack, project management systems) related to accessibility
- Document what was preserved and when
Documentation Integrity
- Do not alter, delete, or "clean up" documents once a hold is in place
- Preserve documents in their native formats where possible
- Maintain metadata (creation dates, modification dates) of key documents
- Establish chain of custody for physical or exported documents
Communication Planning
How your organization communicates during an accessibility legal matter can significantly affect the outcome.
Internal Communications
- Route all substantive communications through legal counsel
- Mark communications with legal counsel as privileged where applicable
- Brief employees on what not to say publicly or in writing
- Establish a single spokesperson for the matter
- Do not discuss the matter on social media or public channels
External Communications
- Direct all external inquiries about the matter to legal counsel
- Prepare media holding statements reviewed by legal counsel
- If you maintain an accessibility statement, update it only with legal review
- Consider proactive user communications if a resolution benefits users
- Document all external communications related to the matter
Remediation Prioritization During a Legal Matter
When litigation is pending, remediation priorities shift. Demonstrating good faith through rapid, verifiable remediation can significantly affect outcomes.
Prioritizing Alleged Barriers
- Remediate specifically alleged barriers first, with legal review
- Document each remediation step with dates and evidence
- Verify remediation through independent testing
- Do not remove barriers without documenting the original state
- Communicate verified remediations to legal counsel for negotiation use
Remediation as Settlement Leverage
Documented, verifiable remediation of identified barriers often forms the basis for settlement negotiations.
- Create a remediation plan with specific commitments and timelines
- Offer independent third-party verification of remediation
- Propose ongoing monitoring commitments
- Consider mediation as a path to resolution
- Engage experienced accessibility counsel for settlement negotiations