Urgent response required

You Received an ADA
Demand Letter — What to Do Next

Do not panic. Do not respond directly. Follow the steps below, starting with step 1: contact an attorney today.

Consult an attorney first. Scrutia is a technical tool, not a legal defense.

This page describes the technical side of your response. It is not legal advice. An ADA demand letter is a legal matter — your first call should be to a qualified attorney licensed in your state. Everything below assumes you have already engaged counsel.

The 5-step response plan

  1. Contact an attorney today

    Before doing anything else — before replying, before emailing the plaintiff, before posting about it online — contact a litigation attorney with ADA Title III experience. Many offer free initial consultations. Your state bar association maintains a referral service. This is the single most important step, and everything that follows depends on it.

  2. Document the current state of your website

    Take full-page screenshots of every page named in the demand letter. Save the HTML. Record the date and time. Your attorney will want a preserved record of the site as it existed when the letter arrived — this is what the plaintiff's claims are based on. Do not make changes to the site until step 2 is complete.

  3. Get an independent technical audit

    Commission a third-party WCAG 2.1 AA audit (Scrutia is one option, at $499). A dated report from an independent source documents exactly which issues exist, which do not, and gives your attorney objective evidence for settlement discussions. Do not rely solely on the plaintiff's findings — they are not always accurate or complete.

  4. Respond formally through your attorney

    Your attorney will draft the formal response. This typically acknowledges receipt, requests specific supporting detail, and opens settlement discussions if appropriate. Do not send anything yourself. Do not contact the plaintiff directly.

  5. Remediate fast and document everything

    With the audit in hand, your developers can start fixing issues in priority order. Every fix should be logged with a date, a description, and a before/after reference. A Scrutia audit includes copy-paste code fixes and a re-audit after remediation to confirm the issues are closed. This documentation strengthens your attorney's negotiating position.

What NOT to do

  • Do not ignore the letter. Silence almost always escalates to a filed lawsuit.
  • Do not respond directly to the plaintiff or their attorney without your own lawyer reviewing the message.
  • Do not delete, modify, or hide the pages named in the letter before step 2 is complete.
  • Do not admit fault in writing, email, or public statements.
  • Do not assume a quick remediation will make the claim disappear — legal strategy is separate from technical fixes.
  • Do not post about the demand letter on social media or customer-facing channels.

Where Scrutia fits

Scrutia is the technical step (step 3) in the 5-step plan above. It is not a legal defense, it is not a substitute for an attorney, and it does not respond to the plaintiff on your behalf. What Scrutia provides is an independent, dated, detailed WCAG 2.1 AA audit — the objective technical evidence your attorney needs to negotiate and that your developers need to remediate.

The audit takes about 5 minutes to run and delivers a 20+ page PDF report with every violation, its severity, and copy-paste code fixes. The report is yours to keep, share with counsel, and hand to your dev team. A re-audit is included after corrections are applied.

Cost: $499. Your attorney will bill separately for their work. Scrutia handles the technical side only.

Frequently asked questions

Should I respond to the demand letter myself?
No. Do not respond directly to a plaintiff attorney without first consulting your own attorney. Anything you write can be used in later proceedings, and admissions of non-compliance can materially weaken your negotiating position. Every action in the response process should be guided by counsel.
How fast must I respond to an ADA demand letter?
Most demand letters include a response deadline of 14 to 30 days. Missing the deadline does not usually trigger an automatic lawsuit, but it signals unwillingness to engage and often results in a filed complaint shortly after. Contact an attorney immediately upon receipt — do not wait.
Will fixing the accessibility issues stop the lawsuit?
Not by itself. Technical remediation alone does not moot a filed claim in most jurisdictions, and plaintiff firms often continue pursuing settlement even after fixes are applied. However, documented remediation can materially reduce the settlement amount and demonstrate good faith during negotiations. The legal strategy is your attorney's call; the technical audit supports it.
What does a technical audit add to my legal response?
A dated, third-party WCAG 2.1 AA audit report documents the current state of your site, which issues were identified, and which were remediated (and when). Your attorney can use this evidence in settlement discussions to push back against inflated damages claims, and it creates a defensible record if the matter proceeds.
Can I just ignore the demand letter and hope it goes away?
No. Ignoring a demand letter is the single worst response. It virtually guarantees a filed lawsuit, increases the eventual cost, and eliminates any goodwill in negotiations. If you cannot afford to engage a litigation attorney, contact a local bar association referral service or look for accessibility-focused legal clinics. Responding — even briefly — is always better than silence.

Related resources

Need the technical audit today?

Scrutia delivers a dated WCAG 2.1 AA audit your attorney can use in settlement discussions — in 5 minutes.

Run the audit — $499

Scrutia provides technical accessibility audits. This is not legal advice. For ADA legal matters, consult an attorney.