Our HOA got a letter saying our website violates the ADA. What should the board do?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised November 1, 2026

What an HOA board should do after an ADA website accessibility demand letter: who to call first, whether Title III applies, what to fix, and mistakes to avoid.

Part of the HOA board handbook: residents and communication.

The short answer

Don't ignore the letter, and don't answer it yourself. Within a day or two, send a copy to the association's insurance agent and to an attorney, save a full copy of the website as it looks today, and find out who built and hosts it. Then fix the problems the letter names and the obvious ones it doesn't, because a fixed site is the board's best answer whether or not the law covers it. Whether the Americans with Disabilities Act reaches a members-only HOA website is a real legal question, and the answer turns on facts about your community, so leave it to counsel. Rules also vary by state and by your governing documents. This guide is education for a volunteer board, not legal advice.

Why the ADA question is not simple for an HOA

Title III of the ADA covers private businesses open to the public, which the statute calls public accommodations. The list in 42 U.S.C. 12181(7) runs from hotels and stores to parks and places of recreation. A homeowners association that only serves its own members is not on that list in any obvious way. The Justice Department's Title III Technical Assistance Manual, at III-1.2000, says strictly residential facilities are not covered, but parts of a residential community that serve the public are. Its examples: a pool that sells memberships to outsiders is covered, a party room limited to owners and their guests is not, and a rental office is. Section III-1.6000 adds that a private club loses its exemption to the extent it opens facilities to nonmembers. So the facts matter. Does the HOA rent the clubhouse to outside groups? Sell pool passes to non-residents? Run a leasing or sales office? Does the public side of the website advertise any of that? Write down the answers before the call with the attorney. The money exposure has a shape too. A private plaintiff under Title III can get a court order and, under 42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(1), the remedies of 42 U.S.C. 2000a-3(a), which are injunctions, not damages. But 42 U.S.C. 12205 lets a court award the winning side its attorney fees, and fees are what most of these letters are about.

What state law adds in Texas, Florida and Colorado

None of the three states has a website accessibility law aimed at private associations, but two of them require HOAs to keep a website, which rules out the easy fix of taking it down. Texas Property Code 207.006 requires an association with at least 60 lots, or any association that hires a management company, to post its current recorded dedicatory instruments on a website available to members. Florida Statutes 720.303(4)(b)1. requires an association with 100 or more parcels to post its governing documents, budget, financial report, insurance policies, contracts and meeting notices on a website or a mobile app. Colorado's digital accessibility rule in C.R.S. 24-34-802(1)(c) applies to public entities and state agencies, which 24-34-301 defines as governments and their agencies and districts, not private associations. Colorado's public accommodation law in 24-34-601 does use a broad definition in 24-34-600.3(1) that names swimming pools and recreational facilities offered to the public, so a Colorado HOA that sells pool passes to outsiders should mention that to its attorney. In California and other states, the attorney should also check state civil rights law, which can carry different remedies from federal Title III.

The first two weeks, step by step

1. Read the letter for a deadline and check whether a lawsuit has already been filed. If the association was served with a summons and complaint, the court clock is running and our guide on what to do when an HOA is served with a lawsuit takes over. 2. Send the letter to the insurance agent the same week. Read the directors and officers policy's definition of a claim; if it includes a written demand, report it within the notice period the policy sets. 3. Call the association's attorney, or ask the insurer whether it will appoint one. A lawyer who has seen these letters can tell quickly whether yours is a form letter or a claim with substance. 4. Preserve the site. Save every page as a PDF, note the date, and keep the hosting and editing logins in one place. Don't delete pages or documents before counsel says so. 5. Identify every vendor that touches the site: the web host, the person who built it, the payment portal, the document library. A dues payment page run by a vendor is the vendor's code, and the board should ask the vendor in writing what it has done about accessibility. 6. Have the board decide its response in a closed session. Texas Property Code 209.0051(c) allows an executive session for pending or threatened litigation and confidential talks with the attorney, with the decision summarized in the minutes afterward. Florida 720.303(2)(a) lets the board meet with its attorney in private about proposed or pending litigation.

What usually needs fixing on a small HOA site

The Justice Department has no detailed Title III rule for private websites. Its web guidance points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as helpful and lists the barriers it sees most: poor color contrast, color used alone to carry meaning, images without text alternatives, videos without captions, online forms that a screen reader can't use, and pages that only work with a mouse. For state and local governments, the Department's 2024 rule adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That rule does not apply to an HOA, but it is the clearest public yardstick, so ask your web person to test against it. On a volunteer-built HOA site, the biggest problem is often the documents. A declaration scanned from the county records as a picture has no text a screen reader can read. Run text recognition on the scanned PDFs, or post a text version beside each scan. Then work through the rest: give every image a short description, caption any meeting video, label every form field, make sure the menu and the payment button work with the Tab key, and fix gray text on white. A plug-in that promises instant compliance won't put a text layer into a scanned declaration. Fix the content itself.

Owners who ask for an accessible copy

Separate from any demand letter, the Fair Housing Act applies here. The 2004 HUD and Justice Department joint statement on reasonable accommodations notes that courts have applied the Act to homeowners and condominium associations, and 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(B) makes it discrimination to refuse reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services when a person with a disability needs them to use and enjoy a dwelling. An owner who is blind and asks for the budget in a format a screen reader can open, or in large print, is making that kind of request. Answer it promptly and in writing, whatever the board thinks of the letter from the law firm. A reply the secretary can adapt: "Thank you for letting us know. We will send the [document] to you in [format] by [date]. If any other association notice or document is hard for you to use, tell us the format that works best and we will provide it."

Wording the board can use

A motion for the open meeting after the closed session: "I move that the board authorize the president to report the accessibility demand letter dated [date] to the association's insurer, to engage [attorney or firm] to respond, and to spend up to $[amount] on accessibility repairs to the association website, with a report to the board at the next meeting." An accessibility statement for the website footer, once the work has started: "The [Association name] wants every owner and resident to be able to use this website. We are working to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 Level AA. If you have trouble reading a page or document, email [address] or call [phone], and we will provide the information in another format." Have the attorney review both before anything goes out, since a public statement can matter if the dispute continues.

A sample timeline and the mistakes to avoid

Day 1 to 3: letter to the insurer and attorney, site saved, vendors listed. Day 7 to 14: closed session with counsel, response strategy chosen, motion adopted in the open meeting. Day 15 to 45: scanned documents fixed, contrast and image text corrected, vendor answers collected. Day 60 to 90: the site retested against WCAG 2.1 AA, accessibility statement posted, a line added to the annual calendar to check the site again before each new document goes up. The mistakes come up again and again. Paying the first demand quickly to make it go away, without counsel, which does nothing to stop the next firm that runs the same scan. Replying to the sender with a long explanation that admits facts. Taking the site down in Texas or Florida when the statute requires it. Posting new scanned PDFs during the cleanup. Talking about settlement figures in an open meeting or the newsletter. Treating an owner's request for an accessible copy as part of the legal fight instead of a request to answer this week. Our guide on what to do when an owner threatens to sue the HOA covers the insurer notice and record-keeping steps that apply here too.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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