Georgia saw 34 federal accessibility cases in early 2025, and that number keeps climbing. Your B2B website might be next if you haven't taken action yet. But here's the thing — making your site accessible isn't as scary as it sounds, and the benefits go way beyond avoiding lawsuits.
Web accessibility means making sure everyone can use your website, regardless of their abilities. It's about creating digital spaces that work for people who use screen readers, can't use a mouse, have color blindness, or face other challenges. For your business website, this means your potential clients, partners, and employees can all access the information and services you provide.
Georgia B2B companies face unique challenges and opportunities when it comes to accessibility. Our state's growing tech sector, combined with traditional industries embracing digital transformation, means more businesses rely on web presence than ever before. Whether you're a professional services firm in Midtown Atlanta or a manufacturer in Columbus, your website needs to work for everyone who visits it.
This guide breaks down what you need to know about web accessibility compliance. We'll cover the legal requirements, show you what accessibility really means for your site, explore the business benefits beyond compliance, and give you a practical roadmap to get started. Most importantly, we'll keep things simple and actionable so you can protect your business while serving your customers better.
The Legal Reality for Georgia B2B Websites
Federal Requirements That Apply to You
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III isn't just for physical stores anymore. Courts consistently rule that B2B websites count as "places of public accommodation", which means your website falls under ADA requirements just like your office building does. The law doesn't spell out exact technical requirements, but courts keep pointing to one standard: WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Think of WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) as the building code for websites. Just as buildings need ramps and elevators, websites need specific features to be accessible. WCAG 2.1 Level AA has become the unofficial standard that courts use to determine if a website meets ADA requirements.
If your company works with government contracts, Section 508 adds another layer of requirements. This federal law requires any technology used by government agencies to meet accessibility standards. Even if you're not directly contracting with the government, many large corporations now require their vendors to meet these same standards. It's becoming part of doing business in today's world.
Georgia-Specific Considerations
Georgia takes digital accessibility seriously. The Georgia Digital Accessibility Standards (PSG SM-19-001), effective since August 2019, require all state digital properties to meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA standards. If you're a state contractor or hope to be one, these standards apply directly to you.
The Georgia Technology Authority doesn't mess around with enforcement either. They require regular audits every 36 months, and you can't just rely on automated testing tools. Manual testing by real people is mandatory because automated tools only catch about half of accessibility issues.
What does this mean for your business? If you want to work with any Georgia state agency, your website needs to be accessible. Period. Even if you're not pursuing state contracts now, having an accessible website keeps that door open for future opportunities.
The Real Risk: Lawsuits and Lost Business
The numbers tell a sobering story. 77% of 2023 ADA lawsuits targeted companies with under $25 million in revenue. These aren't giant corporations with legal departments — they're businesses just like yours. Settlement costs typically range from $5,000 to $50,000, but that's just the settlement. Add legal fees, remediation costs, and ongoing monitoring, and you're looking at much higher totals.
But lawsuits aren't the only risk. The business landscape has shifted dramatically. 73% of B2B leaders now require accessibility in procurement decisions. That means nearly three out of four potential clients might pass on working with you if your website isn't accessible. Can your business afford to lose that many opportunities?
The ripple effects go beyond immediate losses. One accessibility lawsuit can trigger client audits, vendor reviews, and competitive disadvantages that last for years. Your reputation takes a hit, and in Georgia's tight-knit business community, word travels fast.
What Accessibility Actually Means for Your Site
The Four Core Principles
Web accessibility boils down to four core principles that form the foundation of WCAG guidelines. Understanding these helps you see accessibility not as a checklist but as a way of thinking about your website.
- Perceivable means everyone can see or hear your content in some way. If you have images, they need text descriptions for people who can't see them. Videos need captions for people who can't hear them. The key question is: can everyone perceive the information you're sharing, regardless of which senses they use?
- Operable focuses on making sure everyone can navigate and use your site's features. Some people can't use a mouse due to physical disabilities or visual impairments. They rely on keyboards or voice commands instead. Every button, link, and form on your site needs to work without a mouse.
- Understandable means your content and interface make sense to everyone. This includes clear instructions for forms, consistent navigation throughout your site, and error messages that actually help users fix problems. Your site shouldn't require users to guess what to do next.
- Robust ensures your content works with different assistive technologies. Screen readers, voice recognition software, and other tools need to understand your site's code. Clean, standard HTML code makes this possible.
Common B2B Website Barriers
B2B websites face unique accessibility challenges that consumer sites rarely deal with. Your complex data tables showing product specifications might be completely unreadable to screen readers if not coded properly. Those multi-step quote forms that capture detailed requirements can become impossible mazes for keyboard users.
PDF documents create major headaches for accessibility.
That product catalog or technical specification sheet you're sharing? If it's not tagged properly, screen reader users hear nothing but gibberish. The same goes for those quarterly reports and white papers you use for lead generation.
Customer portals and dashboards present another set of challenges.
Interactive charts, real-time data updates, and complex filtering options all need careful attention to be accessible. Many B2B sites have role-based interfaces that change based on user permissions, adding another layer of complexity.
Video content without captions excludes not just deaf users but anyone in a noisy environment or quiet office.
Those product demo videos and webinar recordings that drive your marketing efforts need captions and transcripts to be truly effective.
Quick Self-Assessment Questions
Want to know if your site has basic accessibility issues? Try these simple tests that anyone can do in just a few minutes. You don't need any special tools or technical knowledge.
- Can you navigate your entire site using only your keyboard? Unplug your mouse and try to visit every page, fill out a form, and complete a typical user journey using just the Tab, Enter, and arrow keys. If you get stuck anywhere, you've found an accessibility barrier.
- Do all your images have descriptive text? Right-click on images and check if there's alternative text that describes what the image shows. "Company logo" isn't enough — it should say something like "Trajectory Web Design logo" or describe what's actually in the image.
- Is there enough color contrast for text? If you have to squint to read text on colored backgrounds, the contrast is too low. Light gray text on white backgrounds is a common problem that makes content hard to read for many people, not just those with vision impairments.
- Do your forms have clear labels and error messages? Every form field should have a label that stays visible when you start typing. Error messages should clearly explain what went wrong and how to fix it, not just highlight fields in red.
The Business Case Beyond Compliance
SEO Benefits
Here's something that might surprise you: accessibility and SEO are best friends. Websites implementing accessibility see an average 12% increase in organic traffic within three months. That's because the same things that make your site accessible also help search engines understand and rank your content.
When you add alt text to images, you're not just helping screen reader users — you're telling Google what those images are about. Proper heading structure doesn't just help people navigate with assistive technology; it helps search engines understand your content hierarchy. Clean, semantic HTML code makes your site faster and easier for search engines to crawl.
Think about it this way: search engines are basically blind users trying to understand your website. The better your site works for people using screen readers, the better it works for Google's crawlers. You're essentially optimizing for two audiences at once.
Market Expansion
The disability market represents $13 trillion in annual disposable income globally. That's not a typo — trillion with a T. In the U.S. alone, we're talking about 61 million people with disabilities, plus millions more with temporary impairments or age-related challenges.
But here's what many B2B companies miss: you're not just reaching individuals with disabilities. You're reaching the companies that employ them, partner with them, and serve them. When a procurement manager with low vision can easily navigate your site, when a CEO using voice commands can access your content, when an engineer with color blindness can read your charts — that's when accessibility becomes a competitive advantage.
The European Accessibility Act, effective June 2025, makes accessibility mandatory for anyone doing business in the EU. If you have international clients or ambitions, accessibility isn't optional anymore. Getting compliant now means you're ready for global opportunities while your competitors scramble to catch up.
ROI Reality
Let's talk real numbers. Forrester Research found that companies see a $100 return for every $1 invested in accessibility. That's a 10,000% ROI, which sounds almost too good to be true until you break down where those returns come from.
Proactive compliance costs between $5,000 and $50,000 for most B2B companies. That might sound like a lot, but compare it to reactive costs after a lawsuit: $35,000 to $100,000 or more. And that's just the direct costs. Factor in lost business, damaged reputation, and emergency remediation at premium prices, and the reactive approach costs exponentially more.
The returns come from multiple sources: increased traffic from better SEO, new customers you couldn't reach before, reduced support costs when your site is easier to use, and improved conversion rates when everyone can complete your forms. Plus, you avoid the massive costs of lawsuits and emergency fixes.
Your Practical Compliance Roadmap
Phase 1: Quick Wins (Month 1)
Start with changes you can make right away without hiring consultants or doing major redesigns. Install free testing tools like WAVE or axe DevTools in your browser. These tools will immediately show you issues like missing alt text, poor color contrast, and form labeling problems.
- Fix the critical issues first. Add alt text to all your images — this is usually the easiest fix with the biggest impact. Check your color contrast and darken any light gray text. Make sure every form field has a proper label. These changes can often be made in your content management system without touching any code.
- Create an accessibility statement for your website. This shows you're taking accessibility seriously and gives users a way to contact you if they have problems. Include your commitment to accessibility, the standards you're working toward, and contact information for accessibility feedback.
- Set aside budget for more comprehensive improvements. Knowing what you can spend helps you plan realistic timelines and decide whether to handle fixes internally or hire help.
Phase 2: Professional Assessment (Month 2)
Now it's time to dig deeper. Conduct a thorough audit of your site, either internally if you have the expertise or by hiring a consultant. This audit should include both automated scanning and manual testing with keyboard navigation and screen readers.
- Once you have audit results, prioritize findings by impact and effort. High-priority items affecting critical user journeys (like your contact forms or main service pages) should be fixed first. Medium-priority issues can be scheduled for your next development sprint. Low-priority items can wait for future updates.
- Develop an implementation timeline that's realistic for your team and resources. If you have a small team, you might tackle a few issues each week. Larger teams might dedicate a sprint to accessibility improvements. The key is maintaining steady progress rather than trying to fix everything at once.
- Consider whether your platform supports accessibility well. Modern platforms like Webflow provide tools and features that make accessibility easier, though no platform makes you automatically compliant. You still need to use these tools correctly and make good content decisions.
Phase 3: Implementation (Months 3-4)
This is where the real work happens. Start with high-priority issues that block users from completing critical tasks. Fix your navigation so keyboard users can access every page. Ensure your contact forms work with screen readers. Add captions to your most important videos.
- Update your content creation processes to prevent new issues. Train your content team on writing good alt text and creating accessible PDFs. Make sure designers know about color contrast requirements. Help developers understand semantic HTML and ARIA labels.
- Build accessibility into your workflow. Add "check accessibility" to your content publishing checklist. Include keyboard testing in your QA process. Make accessibility part of your definition of "done" for any new feature or page.
Phase 4: Ongoing Maintenance (Month 5+)
Accessibility isn't a one-time project — it's an ongoing commitment. Set up regular monitoring using automated tools that scan your site weekly or monthly. These tools catch new issues before they become problems.
- Update your procedures for new content. Every new page, blog post, or resource should be checked for accessibility before publishing. This is much easier than trying to fix problems later.
- Train your team regularly. Accessibility guidelines evolve, new team members join, and everyone needs refreshers. Consider bringing in an expert annually for training updates or sending team members to accessibility conferences.
- Schedule annual accessibility reviews to catch any drift from your standards. Think of it like an annual physical for your website — regular checkups prevent major problems.
Common Mistakes Georgia B2B Sites Make
Technical Mistakes
The biggest technical mistake we see is relying solely on automated overlay tools that promise one-click compliance. These overlays don't fix underlying issues — they just add a toolbar that most users with disabilities don't actually use. Real compliance comes from fixing your actual code and content, not adding a band-aid.
Missing form labels plague B2B sites with complex quote forms and calculators. Your form might look fine visually, but screen reader users hear "edit text" with no idea what information to enter. Every field needs a programmatically associated label that assistive technology can read.
Improper heading structure confuses both users and search engines. Headings should create a logical outline of your content, not just make text look bigger. Skipping heading levels or using headings for visual styling rather than structure creates navigation nightmares for screen reader users.
Content Mistakes
Generic link text like "click here" or "read more" creates confusion when screen reader users review all links on a page. Imagine hearing "click here, click here, read more, click here" with no context about where those links go. Make your link text descriptive of the destination or action.
Images of text instead of actual text cause multiple problems. Screen readers can't read text in images, search engines can't index it, and users can't select or translate it. If you must use images of text (like logos), provide alt text with the exact wording.
PDFs without accessible alternatives shut out many users completely. That product spec sheet or case study PDF needs to either be properly tagged for accessibility or have an HTML alternative. Many B2B sites have dozens of PDFs that are completely inaccessible, representing thousands of pages of unusable content.
Process Mistakes
Treating accessibility as a one-time project is perhaps the most damaging mistake. Your website changes constantly — new content, new features, new team members. Without ongoing attention, accessibility degrades quickly.
Not training content creators means accessibility problems multiply with every update. Your marketing team adding images without alt text, your sales team uploading inaccessible PDFs, your product team creating new features without keyboard support — these issues compound daily.
Ignoring user feedback about accessibility shows you're not really committed to inclusion. When someone takes time to report an accessibility barrier, they're helping you improve. Responding quickly and fixing issues shows you value all users and can prevent frustrated users from becoming plaintiffs.
Resources and Next Steps
Free Tools to Start Today
You can begin improving accessibility right now without spending a dollar. The WAVE browser extension provides instant feedback on any webpage you visit. Install it and run it on your homepage — you'll immediately see issues to fix.
Color contrast checkers help you verify your text is readable. The WebAIM Contrast Checker lets you input your colors and instantly see if they meet WCAG standards. Many design tools now include built-in contrast checking too.
Keyboard navigation testing requires no tools at all — just unplug your mouse and try using your site. This simple test reveals navigation barriers that affect millions of users.
Georgia-Specific Resources
The Georgia ADA Coordinator's Office provides technical support and guidance for businesses working to improve accessibility. They understand state requirements and can point you toward local resources.
Atlanta has a growing community of accessibility consultants who understand both B2B needs and local business culture. Local expertise can be invaluable when you need help beyond what online resources provide.
Industry associations in Georgia increasingly offer accessibility training and resources. Check with your professional associations — many now include accessibility in their member education programs.
When to Get Professional Help
Complex web applications need expert guidance to make accessible. If your site includes customer portals, interactive dashboards, or complex calculators, professional help ensures you address all the technical challenges correctly.
After receiving a complaint or demand letter, immediately consult both legal counsel and accessibility experts. Time is critical, and professional help can mean the difference between a quick resolution and a costly lawsuit.
Before major redesigns, bring in accessibility expertise early. It's much cheaper to build accessibility into a new design than to retrofit it later. A few hours of consultation during planning can save weeks of remediation later.
Building It Into Your Process
Making accessibility part of your content strategy means it becomes automatic rather than an afterthought. Include accessibility requirements in your content calendar, style guide, and brand standards.
Train different team members based on their roles. Content creators need to know about alt text and link text. Designers need to understand color contrast and visual focus indicators. Developers need to know semantic HTML and ARIA. Everyone needs to understand why accessibility matters to your business and your users.
Create templates and checklists that make accessibility easier. A blog post template with reminders about alt text, an accessible PDF checklist for sales materials, a form template that includes proper labels — these tools make compliance automatic rather than exceptional.
Conclusion
Web accessibility isn't just about avoiding lawsuits — it's about building a better business. The legal risks are real, with Georgia seeing increasing enforcement and settlements that can devastate small businesses. But the opportunities are equally real, from expanded markets to improved SEO to being ready for international growth.
Small steps make a big difference. Adding alt text to images, improving color contrast, and ensuring keyboard navigation work — these aren't massive projects, but they remove real barriers for real people. Every improvement makes your site more useful for all visitors, not just those with disabilities.
Start today with free tools and simple fixes. Run WAVE on your homepage. Try navigating with just your keyboard. Check your color contrast. These tests take minutes but reveal issues you can begin fixing immediately.
Remember that accessibility brings returns far beyond compliance. Better SEO, expanded markets, improved user experience, and avoided lawsuits all contribute to a positive ROI that grows over time. Your investment in accessibility is an investment in your business's future.
Pick one quick win and implement it this week. Maybe it's adding alt text to your homepage images. Maybe it's fixing the contrast on your contact form. Maybe it's creating an accessibility statement. Whatever you choose, you're taking the first step toward a more inclusive, successful digital presence. Your future customers — all of them — will thank you.
