Restaurants & the ADA
Restaurant website accessibility: what to fix and why it matters
Restaurants are among the most targeted business categories for ADA website demand letters. This is what the law expects, which Squarespace issues cause the most problems, and how to build a documented good-faith record.
Why restaurants get targeted
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act requires businesses open to the public to make their services accessible. Federal courts have applied this to websites for years. Restaurants land in the crosshairs because their sites have a predictable mix of problems:
- Pages built almost entirely from photos, with no alt text
- PDF menus that screen readers cannot parse at all
- Online reservation and ordering forms that fail keyboard and screen-reader access
- Text-over-food-photo layouts that almost always fail contrast requirements
- Small teams with no one watching for accessibility regressions after site updates
A handful of plaintiff law firms file hundreds to thousands of ADA website cases every year, often targeting small businesses in bulk. Restaurants are a common pick because the issues are predictable and the demand letters are cheap to send at volume. A documented ongoing effort to fix those issues is the most practical response. See which firms file these cases most often.
The six issues that matter most on a Squarespace restaurant site
Images without alt text
Every food photo, chef photo, and interior shot needs a real description so screen readers can convey it to a blind or low-vision visitor. "hero-image-3.jpg" is not alt text. Missing image descriptions are consistently the most-cited issue in web ADA complaints.
PDF menus (a special case)
A PDF menu that was scanned from print is completely inaccessible to screen readers, and courts have specifically cited this. Unlike the other issues on this list, PDFs cannot be fixed from inside Squarespace. The solution is to replace the PDF with a real HTML menu page, or remove the PDF link and add the menu content directly to the site.
Reservation and ordering forms
Every field needs a real visible label, not just placeholder text that disappears when someone starts typing. The form must be completable by keyboard alone. This includes date pickers, dropdown selects, party-size fields, and any CAPTCHA step.
Low-contrast text over photos
Text layered over hero images of food fails contrast requirements far more often than not. WCAG 2.1 AA requires a 4.5:1 ratio for normal text, 3:1 for large text. Darkening the overlay or moving the text to a solid background fixes this.
Unnamed icon buttons
Social icons, cart icons, and any button that has no visible text need an accessible name so screen readers can tell users what they do. A cart icon with no label is just announced as "button."
Broken heading structure
One H1 per page, no skipped levels. Squarespace section titles can become H1s even when they should be H2s or H3s. Screen reader users navigate by heading and a broken order makes the page hard or impossible to follow.
What a good-faith effort actually looks like
No website is ever perfectly accessible forever. Content changes every time you update a menu or add a photo. Courts and the DOJ look for evidence of an ongoing real effort: finding the problems, fixing them in the actual site code, and keeping a dated record of the work.
That dated record matters. A log showing that you scanned your site on a specific date, found specific issues, and had them fixed is meaningful evidence of a genuine good-faith effort. An overlay widget installed after receiving a demand letter is not.
Kat ADA was built specifically for this situation. The founder runs restaurants in Southern California and received two ADA website demand letters herself. The service makes real fixes inside your Squarespace site and delivers a plain-English monthly report documenting every scan and fix.
Done-for-you accessibility for restaurant Squarespace sites
Kat ADA is a done for you Squarespace accessibility service: a specialist makes real source fixes inside your site, documents the work per WCAG 2.1 AA, and sends a monthly report. Not an overlay.
- Free accessibility scan, no credit card
- Real source fixes by a specialist (not an overlay widget)
- Monthly scan of every page + plain-English report
- Plans start at $25 a month
Frequently asked questions
Do restaurant websites have to be ADA accessible?
Yes. Federal courts have consistently held that the ADA applies to the websites of businesses that serve the public, including restaurants. If your restaurant takes reservations, displays a menu, or processes orders online, those features must be accessible to people using screen readers and other assistive technology.
Why do restaurants get so many ADA demand letters?
Restaurants are a well-known target because their sites are predictably inaccessible: lots of photos, PDF menus, and forms. A handful of plaintiff law firms file hundreds to thousands of ADA website cases every year targeting small businesses in bulk. A documented good-faith accessibility effort is the most practical response.
Does a Squarespace restaurant site need WCAG 2.1 AA?
WCAG 2.1 AA is the standard courts and the DOJ reference most often. While the ADA does not name a specific technical standard by law, WCAG 2.1 AA has become the de facto benchmark for small business websites.
Will an overlay widget protect my restaurant?
No. Overlay widgets do not fix the underlying code in your Squarespace site and courts have ruled against businesses that relied on them. In some cases, plaintiffs have specifically targeted overlay-using sites. Real source fixes that are documented are the only approach that holds up.
Related: Squarespace ADA compliance · ADA demand letter law firms · Squarespace accessibility guide · Kat ADA for restaurants