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Website accessibility law in Illinois

Last checked

Illinois covers disability discrimination in a broad list of public accommodations, but a plaintiff must file a charge with the state Department first; remedies are actual damages, attorney's fees and civil penalties up to $16,000–$70,000 per violation, with no fixed minimum. On top of that, the federal ADA applies in Illinois as everywhere: a business that loses or settles a website accessibility suit pays the plaintiff’s attorney’s fees.

The law

Minimum per violation
None set
Can a person sue for money?
Yes
Attorney's fees under state law
Yes
Other money remedies
  • a charge must first be filed with the Department of Human Rights; the complainant may opt out of the investigation or take a right-to-sue notice and then file in circuit court, 775 ILCS 5/7A-102(C-1), (D), (G)
  • Commission remedies: actual damages, make-whole relief with interest, and attorney and expert fees, § 8A-104(B), (G), (J)
  • the express court-relief provision (actual and punitive damages, fees, § 10-102(C)) applies only to Article 3 (real estate) claims per § 10-101; court remedies for public-accommodation claims not confirmed from text
Civil penalty
per violation and per aggrieved party: up to $16,000 (no prior violation), $42,500 (one prior in 5 years), $70,000 (two or more prior in 7 years), Commission order, 775 ILCS 5/8A-104(K); payee not stated in the text read
Websites
We found no court decision applying Illinois law to a website.

Verified against the official statute text, 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). That fee-shifting is what makes a website claim expensive, in Illinois and everywhere else.

Lawsuits in Illinois

585 federal website accessibility lawsuits were filed in Illinois in 2025 (Seyfarth Shaw, ADA Title III blog).

Our lawsuit tracker has indexed 363 federal court records from Illinois. It’s a sample, not a complete count: it covers dockets that say what they’re about.

Compare every state

Questions

Can a business in Illinois 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 Illinois law a person can sue the business directly. We found no court decision applying Illinois law to a website.

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

Illinois law sets no fixed minimum per violation. Illinois covers disability discrimination in a broad list of public accommodations, but a plaintiff must file a charge with the state Department first; remedies are actual damages, attorney's fees and civil penalties up to $16,000–$70,000 per violation, with no fixed minimum.

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

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

Which accessibility standard should a Illinois 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.

How many website accessibility lawsuits were filed in Illinois in 2025?

585 federal website accessibility lawsuits were filed in Illinois in 2025, according to Seyfarth Shaw's count of federal filings.