ADA Compliance in Detroit
Professional ada compliance services for Detroit businesses. Strategy, execution, and results.
Our ADA Compliance Work in Detroit
- WCAG 2.2 AA compliance audits for Detroit businesses combining automated scanning with Axe, Lighthouse, and WAVE, plus manual screen reader testing with NVDA, JAWS, and VoiceOver, and keyboard-only navigation testing across all major browsers
- Emergency remediation for Detroit businesses responding to ADA demand letters or active litigation, with expedited timeline and documented good-faith remediation plans for legal counsel
- Section 508 compliance documentation for Detroit automotive suppliers and manufacturers with federal contract requirements that go beyond general ADA compliance
- Accessibility statements and VPAT documentation for Detroit companies bidding on enterprise and government contracts with accessibility qualification requirements
- Ongoing monitoring for Metro Detroit businesses to catch regressions as websites and applications evolve, with monthly automated scans and periodic manual reviews
- Training for Detroit marketing and content teams on accessible content creation, including alt text, link text, heading structure, and accessible PDF creation
- Healthcare-specific compliance reviews for Detroit medical organizations, including patient portal accessibility assessment and Section 1557 documentation
- Code-level remediation addressing actual HTML, CSS, ARIA, and JavaScript issues rather than overlay products that fail for screen reader users
Industries We Serve in Detroit
Automotive. Ford, GM, Stellantis, and their supplier network all have ADA obligations for customer-facing websites. Suppliers with federal contracts face Section 508 requirements for accessible electronic and information technology. OEM contractual requirements for supplier digital tools increasingly include accessibility specifications. Dealer portals and B2B procurement platforms used by workers across factory floors, dealerships, and remote locations benefit from the keyboard navigation and clear focus management that accessibility standards require.
Healthcare. Henry Ford Health System, Detroit Medical Center, McLaren Health Care, Beaumont Health, and Metro Detroit's community health centers need accessible patient portals, health information sites, appointment scheduling systems, and telehealth interfaces. Section 1557 of the ACA applies to any healthcare organization receiving federal financial assistance, which covers virtually every hospital and physician practice in the Detroit market. Inaccessible patient-facing digital tools create access barriers to care for patients with disabilities who deserve equitable access to the health system.
Manufacturing. Detroit's manufacturing sector is building digital tools at a rapid pace: operational dashboards, supplier portals, quality documentation systems, and customer-facing product information sites. Federal contractor requirements and general ADA exposure both apply. Practically, workers in manufacturing environments using shared tablets and workstation terminals in challenging conditions benefit from the accessibility features that ADA compliance requires.
Real Estate. Detroit's development boom has created many new websites and platforms for residential and commercial properties that need to be accessible to prospective tenants, buyers, and community members. The Fair Housing Act's application to digital platforms means property listing sites, tenant portals, and rental applications cannot exclude users with disabilities.
Technology. Companies at TechTown Detroit, the Michigan Central campus, and across Detroit's growing tech sector need accessibility built into products and marketing sites from the start. Enterprise and government buyers evaluate vendor platforms for ADA compliance, and startups that build accessibly from day one avoid the costly remediation debt that accumulates in products built without accessibility in mind.
Nonprofits and Social Services. Detroit's robust social services community, including the Detroit-Wayne Integrated Health Network, neighborhood development corporations, and community organizations throughout the city, serves populations with above-average rates of disability. These organizations need accessible digital tools to fulfill their missions effectively and to comply with their own grant requirements.
Retail. Detroit retailers, from Eastern Market vendors with online stores to downtown shops and suburban mall anchors, need accessible e-commerce and informational sites. Retail websites are among the most frequently targeted in ADA litigation nationally, and Detroit businesses are not exempt from this national pattern.
Education. Wayne State University, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Lawrence Technological University, and Detroit's K-12 school system need accessible digital platforms for all students, parents, and staff. Title II requirements apply to public educational institutions, and the Department of Education's OCR investigates digital accessibility complaints.
What to Expect
Discovery. We begin with automated scanning to surface obvious issues quickly and document the scope of manual testing required. We assess your site's size, interactive complexity, and the volume of content to determine the audit scope and timeline. We give you a preliminary summary of findings before the full audit is complete so you can begin planning remediation.
Audit and Reporting. Full manual testing with keyboard-only navigation and screen readers across multiple browsers and operating systems. Every issue documented with its exact location, WCAG criterion, severity level, and recommended technical fix. The report is structured so your development team can work from it directly.
Remediation. Code-level fixes in the actual codebase. HTML structure, ARIA implementation, keyboard navigation, focus management, color contrast, and accessible content patterns. No overlay tools. Every fix tested before completion, with a post-remediation verification audit to confirm resolution.
Ongoing Compliance. Monthly automated monitoring, periodic manual reviews, internal process guidance, and training for your content and development teams to prevent new issues from accumulating.
Detroit Businesses Deserve Compliance That Works
Running Start Digital delivers genuine ADA compliance for Detroit businesses. Audit, remediation, monitoring, and training. Everything your organization needs to stand behind its digital accessibility with confidence. Contact us to schedule your audit.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Sixth Circuit has a clear record of allowing ADA website claims to proceed, and Michigan businesses have faced both individual plaintiff claims and systemic advocacy cases. While New York and California see the highest case volumes nationally, Michigan businesses are not protected from this litigation. The cost of defending even a straightforward ADA case typically runs $10,000 to $50,000 or more in legal fees, far exceeding the cost of proactive compliance. Serial filers also target businesses systematically, so a single exposure can attract multiple claims.
The ADA covers places of public accommodation, and courts have generally applied this to websites that serve the public or allow commercial transactions. For pure B2B platforms used only by employees of specific authorized client companies, the analysis may differ. However, many Detroit B2B platforms also have public-facing components, such as product catalogs, demo request forms, or documentation libraries, that clearly fall under the ADA. Federal contractors additionally face Section 508 requirements for electronic and information technology used by or provided to federal employees. We recommend getting a legal opinion on your specific situation and then engaging us for the technical compliance work.
Accessibility overlay products are JavaScript widgets that claim to fix accessibility issues by modifying how your site appears. They do not fix the underlying code. Independent testing by the accessibility community has repeatedly demonstrated that overlays fail to provide genuine accessibility for screen reader users and can actually make interactions worse by creating conflicting ARIA attributes. Courts have ruled against businesses that used overlays as their primary compliance strategy. Real ADA compliance means fixing the actual HTML, CSS, ARIA, and JavaScript in your codebase so that it works correctly for assistive technology users. That is what Running Start Digital delivers.
Timeline depends on the size and complexity of the site and the number of issues found. A small business website typically takes three to six weeks for audit and remediation combined. A corporate website with many pages and interactive features might take eight to sixteen weeks. An enterprise platform with complex application functionality can take longer. We prioritize the most legally significant issues first, so your legal exposure decreases throughout the project even before full remediation is complete.
Yes. We have experience with the specific requirements that come with automotive industry digital tools. This includes the contractual accessibility requirements that some OEMs impose on suppliers, Section 508 requirements for federal contractor tools, and the practical accessibility needs of users in manufacturing and dealer environments who access systems on mobile devices and shared terminals in challenging physical conditions. We understand both the regulatory requirements and the operational realities of the automotive ecosystem.
We recommend monthly automated scanning to catch regressions after content or feature updates, combined with semi-annual manual reviews for sites that change frequently. We also help you build internal processes: a published accessibility policy, content guidelines for your team, and a check-in process for new feature development that catches accessibility issues before they go to production. These practices prevent the accumulation of new accessibility issues that would require another large remediation project in a few years.