ADA Compliance for SaaS Companies: Best Practices and Compliance Tips

Ensuring Equal Access for Users

ADA compliance for SaaS companies means every user can register, purchase, configure, and use your product without barriers. Treat accessibility as a core product quality, not an afterthought, and embed it across design, engineering, content, and support workflows.

Start by mapping the end-to-end journey: marketing pages, sign-up, authentication, in-app workflows, settings, dashboards, help, and billing. For each step, define measurable accessibility outcomes aligned to WCAG 2.1 Level AA so you can plan, implement, and verify improvements.

• Design inclusive flows: accessible MFA, alternatives to CAPTCHAs, and clear error recovery.
• Offer multiple support channels that are usable with assistive technologies and keyboard-only navigation.
• Document accessibility in your product requirements, acceptance criteria, and release notes.
• Provide training so teams understand Semantic HTML, Keyboard Operability, color usage, and content guidelines.

Implementing WCAG 2.1 Level AA Guidelines

WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the most widely adopted benchmark for digital accessibility and a practical path toward ADA conformance. Use the POUR framework—Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust—to structure requirements and ensure coverage across product surfaces.

High-impact Level AA checks for SaaS

• Perceivable: text alternatives for non-text content, captions for prerecorded video, and adaptable layouts that reflow without loss of content.
• Operable: full keyboard access, logical focus order, visible focus indicators, and enough time to complete tasks.
• Understandable: clear labels and instructions, helpful validation messages, and predictable navigation and component behavior.
• Robust: semantic markup with correct roles, names, and states so assistive tech can reliably interpret UI components.

Translate these guidelines into actionable stories: add accessibility acceptance criteria to each ticket, extend your design system with accessible components, and create a regression suite that checks Level AA criteria in CI.

Utilizing Semantic HTML

Semantic HTML is the fastest route to resilient accessibility because browsers and assistive technologies already understand native elements. Use the correct element for the job and add ARIA only to fill genuine gaps—never to replace native semantics.

Practical patterns

• Structure pages with landmark regions (header, nav, main, aside, footer) and a single logical heading outline starting with h1.
• Use button for actions and a for navigation; avoid clickable divs. Ensure link and button text conveys purpose.
• Build forms with label, input, textarea, select, fieldset, and legend. Associate errors with inputs via aria-describedby and keep messages concise.
• Mark up data with table, thead, tbody, th scope, and captions. Expose dynamic state with aria-expanded, aria-pressed, and aria-current only when needed.

Correct semantics simplify Keyboard Operability and screen reader support while reducing custom code and maintenance cost.

Enhancing Keyboard Navigation

Users must be able to complete all tasks using only a keyboard. Establish a consistent, predictable tab order, and provide a clearly visible focus indicator on every interactive element.

Keyboard Operability essentials

• Add a “Skip to main content” link and ensure focus lands in the main region on route changes.
• Manage focus when opening and closing modals, drawers, menus, and dialogs; trap focus inside and return it to the trigger.
• Use the right key patterns: Space/Enter for buttons, Enter for links, Arrow keys for menus, listboxes, tabs, and sliders.
• Avoid tabindex values greater than 0; rely on DOM order and programmatic focus for complex widgets.

Test every view with keyboard only. Validate that no component requires a mouse, that focus never gets lost, and that visible cues remain consistent across themes and states.

Providing Alternative Text for Images

Alternative Text ensures images convey meaning to users who cannot see them. Write alt text based on purpose and context rather than describing pixels.

• Informational images: summarize the essential information succinctly (usually under 125 characters).
• Functional images (icons as buttons/links): make the alt text reflect the action, e.g., “Save,” not “Floppy disk icon.”
• Decorative images: use empty alt (alt="") so screen readers skip them.
• Complex visuals (charts/diagrams): provide a nearby textual explanation or data table; keep the image alt short and descriptive.
• Brand logos: include the company name in the alt text if the logo carries brand meaning.

Bake image guidelines into your CMS or asset pipeline so contributors cannot publish without required alt text or explicit decorative flags.

Maintaining Color Contrast and Text Readability

Readable typography and sufficient contrast are nonnegotiable. Meet the WCAG 2.1 Level AA Color Contrast Ratio thresholds: 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (18pt or 14pt bold). UI components and graphical objects should also meet at least 3:1.

• Do not rely on color alone to communicate status; pair color with text, icons, or patterns.
• Adopt tokens in your design system for states (default, hover, focus, active, error, success) that meet contrast requirements.
• Use comfortable line height (1.5+), sufficient letter spacing, and scalable type so content remains readable at 200% zoom.
• Underline links or provide another non-color affordance, especially in body text.

Test contrast across themes, images, and overlays, including dark mode and high-contrast settings. Validate disabled states, focus rings, and small text where failures commonly occur.

Conducting Regular Accessibility Audits

Accessibility Audits keep your conformance on track as the product evolves. Combine automated checks with expert manual reviews and user testing that includes people with disabilities.

Audit workflow

• Automate: run axe-core or similar tools in CI and in Storybook; block merges on Level AA failures.
• Manually review: keyboard walkthroughs, screen reader passes (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver), and visual checks for contrast and focus.
• User validation: schedule periodic studies with assistive technology users to uncover real-world issues.
• Track and fix: triage by severity and user impact, assign owners, and verify remediation before release.

Maintain VPAT Documentation and publish an Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR) summarizing how your product aligns to WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Update it with every major release, and include known gaps with timelines for remediation to demonstrate due diligence.

Conclusion

By building with Semantic HTML, ensuring Keyboard Operability, maintaining sufficient Color Contrast Ratio, and auditing regularly, you create a SaaS product that meets WCAG 2.1 Level AA and advances ADA goals. Treat accessibility as an ongoing product practice, and your users—and your business—will benefit.

FAQs.

What are the key ADA compliance requirements for SaaS companies?

While the ADA does not mandate a single technical standard, SaaS providers should ensure equal access by aligning with WCAG 2.1 Level AA, enabling full keyboard use, providing Alternative Text, delivering captions and transcripts, maintaining sufficient contrast, and offering clear, consistent navigation. Document your posture with VPAT Documentation and a current ACR, and provide effective support channels for accommodation requests.

How can WCAG 2.1 guidelines be applied in SaaS design?

Integrate WCAG 2.1 Level AA into your design system and backlog. Define accessible component patterns, enforce color and typography tokens, add accessibility acceptance criteria to stories, and include keyboard and screen reader behaviors in specs. Validate in CI with automated tests, then perform manual reviews and usability sessions to confirm real-world behavior.

What tools are available for accessibility auditing?

Combine automated and manual tooling: axe DevTools or axe-core, WAVE, Lighthouse Accessibility, Accessibility Insights for Web, and Pa11y for CI. Test with screen readers (NVDA, JAWS, VoiceOver), keyboard-only passes, color contrast analyzers, and browser zoom/reflow checks. Use Storybook add-ons and linters to catch regressions in components before they ship.

How does VPAT documentation support compliance?

VPAT Documentation is a structured way to report conformance against standards like WCAG 2.1 Level AA and Section 508. It becomes your ACR for customers and procurement teams, showing strengths, gaps, and remediation timelines. Although it is not a legal guarantee of compliance, a current VPAT signals transparency, maturity, and ongoing commitment to accessibility.