Food delivery and online ordering platforms must be accessible to all users. As more restaurants rely on digital ordering, ensuring these platforms work with assistive technology is both a legal requirement and a business necessity.
Food delivery ADA lawsuits
Average settlement
Ordering sites with violations
Online food ordering became essential during COVID and remains critical infrastructure. Customers with disabilities must be able to browse menus, customize orders, and complete checkout independently using assistive technology.
Test the complete ordering flow from menu browsing through checkout — verify that every food customization option has a keyboard-accessible control with a clear label. Implement ARIA live regions for cart updates, order status changes, and delivery tracking so screen reader users receive real-time confirmations without navigating away from their current task. Ensure allergen warnings and nutritional information are programmatically linked to menu items rather than displayed as icon-only indicators. Make tip selection and payment forms fully keyboard-operable with labeled fields and audible confirmation of the total amount before order submission.
Yes. Every customization step — adding toppings, choosing a side dish, selecting a sauce, or specifying cooking preferences — must be operable via keyboard and announced to screen readers. Checkboxes and radio buttons for food options need associated labels that clearly identify what each option is.
When items are added, removed, or modified in the cart, those changes must be communicated to assistive technology using ARIA live regions. A screen reader user who adds a pizza to their cart should hear a confirmation like 'Pepperoni pizza added to cart, total $18.99' without needing to navigate to the cart to verify.
Order tracking pages must be screen reader compatible. Status updates like 'Your order is being prepared' or 'Driver is 5 minutes away' should be announced via ARIA live regions. Progress indicators and map-based driver tracking need text alternatives that convey estimated delivery time and order status.
Allergen warnings, nutritional facts, and dietary labels (gluten-free, vegan, etc.) must be programmatically associated with their menu items and accessible to screen readers. Customers with disabilities need the same access to food safety information as all other customers. Icon-only allergen indicators need text labels.
Tip selection interfaces — whether percentage buttons, dollar amount fields, or slider controls — must be fully keyboard-operable. Custom tip input fields need clear labels. The selected tip amount should be announced to screen readers so users can confirm their selection before placing the order.
ADA website lawsuits against food delivery & online ordering businesses are increasing every year. Settlements typically range from $10,000 to $75,000+, and defense costs alone can exceed $25,000. The cost of proactive compliance is a fraction of a single lawsuit.
Enter your URL and get a complete WCAG 2.1 AA audit in under 60 seconds. See exactly what needs fixing.
Scan Your Site Free