Website accessibility law in Colorado

Colorado lets a disabled customer sue for $5,000 per violation per plaintiff (or actual damages plus up to $50,000 noneconomic damages), plus attorney's fees and a compliance order. This is among the steepest per-violation exposures in this group, and no website-specific ruling was found. On top of that, the federal ADA applies in Colorado as everywhere: a business that loses or settles a website accessibility suit pays the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees.

The law

Statute: Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), C.R.S. § 24-34-601 (public accommodation) and § 24-34-802 (disability); remedies C.R.S. § 24-34-602 as amended by HB 25-1239 (2025 Colo. Sess. Laws ch. 232) (opens in a new tab)
Minimum per violation: $5,000
Can a person sue for money?: Yes
Attorney's fees under state law: Yes
Other money remedies: actual monetary damages, § 24-34-602(1)(a)(I)
noneconomic loss damages capped at $50,000, cap halved if the defendant corrects within 30 days (extendable to 120 days for good faith) unless knowing/intentional/reckless, § 24-34-602(1)(c)
court order requiring compliance, § 24-34-602(1)(a)
ADA standards and defenses apply to disability suits, § 24-34-602(4)
Websites: Whether Colorado law covers websites is unsettled.

Partially verified: read from a secondary copy of the statute because the official site couldn't be reached, Oct 7, 2026. A summary, not legal advice.

The federal baseline

ADA Title III gives a private plaintiff no money damages, but a business that loses or settles pays the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees (42 U.S.C. § 12205 (opens in a new tab)). That fee-shifting is what makes a website claim expensive, in Colorado and everywhere else.

Lawsuits in Colorado

The lawsuit tracker has no indexed court records from Colorado yet.

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Questions

Can a business in Colorado be sued over an inaccessible website?

Yes. The federal ADA applies in every state, and a plaintiff can sue in federal court for an order to fix the site plus attorney's fees. Under Colorado law a person can sue the business directly. Whether Colorado law covers websites is unsettled.

What is the minimum a Colorado court awards for a website accessibility violation?

$5,000 per violation under Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), C.R.S. § 24-34-601 (public accommodation) and § 24-34-802 (disability), before attorney's fees.

Do I pay the plaintiff's lawyer if I lose or settle in Colorado?

Under the federal ADA, yes: a business that loses or settles usually pays the plaintiff's attorney's fees (42 U.S.C. § 12205). Colorado law also provides for attorney's fees.

Which accessibility standard should a Colorado business website meet?

The ADA doesn't name a technical standard for businesses. The Justice Department's 2022 guidance points to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), and its 2024 rule for state and local governments adopted WCAG 2.1 Level AA.