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Website accessibility law in Pennsylvania

Last checked

Pennsylvania bans disability discrimination by public accommodations, but a plaintiff must go through the state Human Relations Commission for up to a year before suing; courts can award damages and attorney's fees (§ 12(c.2)), with no fixed minimum and no civil penalty for public-accommodation cases (§ 9 penalties apply to housing). On top of that, the federal ADA applies in Pennsylvania 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
  • exhaustion: a complaint must be filed with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission; the complainant may sue in common pleas court only after the Commission dismisses it or one year passes without conciliation, and must sue within 2 years of the closing notice, § 12(c)(1)–(2)
  • court may grant "any other legal or equitable relief as the court deems appropriate", § 12(c)(3); the statute does not mention punitive damages
  • Commission may award actual damages, including humiliation and embarrassment, § 9(f)(1)
Websites
We found no court decision applying Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania and everywhere else.

Lawsuits in Pennsylvania

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

Our lawsuit tracker has indexed 24 federal court records from Pennsylvania. 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania law a person can sue the business directly. We found no court decision applying Pennsylvania law to a website.

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

Pennsylvania law sets no fixed minimum per violation. Pennsylvania bans disability discrimination by public accommodations, but a plaintiff must go through the state Human Relations Commission for up to a year before suing; courts can award damages and attorney's fees (§ 12(c.2)), with no fixed minimum and no civil penalty for public-accommodation cases (§ 9 penalties apply to housing).

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

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

Which accessibility standard should a Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania in 2025?

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