Website Accessibility Statement and Remediation Governance Plan
For Informational Purposes Only
A two-part package: a restrained public accessibility statement that avoids unsupported conformance claims, and an internal governance plan for inventory, testing, remediation, procurement, release controls, feedback, evidence, and exceptions.
Why You Need This
Web accessibility lawsuits have become one of the most active areas of commercial litigation in the United States. Plaintiffs’ firms file thousands of ADA Title III cases every year targeting websites and mobile applications that are not usable by people with disabilities. The legal exposure is real, but the bigger problem for most startups is that their public accessibility statement — if they have one at all — makes conformance claims they cannot support. An overstated statement is worse than no statement because it creates evidence of awareness without evidence of effort. This package solves both problems: a measured public statement that commits to accessibility without making unsupported conformance claims, paired with an internal governance plan that builds the operational evidence a company needs if challenged.
What Is in the Package
The template has two distinct components. The public accessibility statement describes the company’s commitment, the standard it is working toward (typically WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 at Level AA), known limitations if any, the feedback channel for accessibility issues, and third-party format and assistive technology support. The internal governance plan establishes the operational infrastructure: digital asset inventory and ownership, testing methodology and cadence, remediation prioritization and tracking, procurement and vendor accessibility requirements, release-gate controls for new features, feedback intake and response procedures, evidence and documentation standards, exception and risk-acceptance processes, training requirements, and executive accountability.
Key Provisions Explained
Restrained Public Statement
The template deliberately avoids claiming full WCAG conformance unless the company can prove it through documented testing. Instead, it states the target standard, describes ongoing efforts, acknowledges known limitations transparently, and provides a real feedback channel. This approach is both legally safer and more honest than the boilerplate “fully accessible” claims that populate most corporate websites and crumble under litigation discovery.
Digital Asset Inventory
You cannot remediate what you have not inventoried. The governance plan requires a complete catalog of customer-facing digital assets — websites, web applications, mobile apps, PDFs, embedded media, third-party widgets, and kiosks — with assigned owners, testing status, and conformance levels. This inventory drives everything else: testing priority, remediation sequencing, procurement requirements, and evidence preservation.
Testing and Remediation Controls
The plan distinguishes between automated scanning (which catches roughly 30-40% of accessibility issues) and manual testing with assistive technology (which is required for meaningful conformance assessment). It establishes testing cadence, prioritization criteria for remediating findings, integration with the development sprint cycle, and regression testing for new releases. Every remediation gets tracked with before-and-after evidence.
Procurement and Release Gates
Accessibility problems often enter the codebase through third-party components, vendor widgets, and new features that ship without testing. The governance plan requires accessibility criteria in vendor procurement, pre-release accessibility testing as a deployment gate, and documented exceptions when a known issue ships with a remediation timeline. This prevents the common pattern where accessibility debt accumulates faster than remediation can retire it.
Feedback and Evidence
The package structures a feedback channel that actually works — with defined response timelines, escalation paths, and documentation of every complaint and resolution. This evidence trail matters enormously in litigation: a company that can show it receives, triages, and remediates accessibility feedback in good faith is in a fundamentally different position than one that has a statement on its website and nothing behind it.
Included Schedules
The package includes four operational schedules: a Digital Asset Inventory and Conformance Register cataloging every customer-facing property with its testing status and owner; a Testing, Remediation, and Release-Gate Matrix defining methodology, cadence, and deployment controls; a Procurement and Vendor Accessibility Checklist for evaluating third-party components; and a Feedback, Exception, and Evidence Log tracking complaints, risk-accepted items, and resolution documentation.
When to Use This Template
Every company with a customer-facing website or application should have an accessibility statement and governance plan. The risk profile is especially acute for e-commerce, financial services, healthcare, education, hospitality, and any business that serves the public. But the ADA’s reach is broad, and plaintiffs’ firms increasingly target early-stage companies — not just large enterprises. If you have a website, you need this.
Important Limitations
This is a drafting master. You must inventory your actual digital assets, conduct real accessibility testing, set achievable remediation timelines, and implement the governance controls before the statement is accurate. The public statement should not be published until the internal plan is operational — otherwise it creates a commitment without the infrastructure to honor it. Accessibility law varies by jurisdiction and evolves rapidly; current-law verification is essential.
Need help customizing this template for your business? Contact Montague Law to schedule a consultation and get this document reviewed by our team.
This template is provided by Montague Law for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction before using any legal document.