The Department of Justice says Title III of the ADA applies to the goods and services businesses open to the public offer on the web, and its guidance lists food and drink establishments among those businesses. In Robles v. Domino's, a federal appeals court held that the ADA applied to Domino's website and app, and the Supreme Court declined to review the case. A practical standard for restaurant websites is WCAG 2.2 level AA. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
What the Department of Justice says
The federal guidance restaurants should know is the Justice Department's "Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA," dated March 18, 2022 [1]. For a restaurant, three of its points stand out:
- Title III of the ADA "prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities by businesses open to the public," and the guidance lists food and drink establishments among those businesses [1].
- The guidance says the ADA's requirements apply to the goods and services such businesses offer on the web [1].
- According to the Justice Department's guidance, businesses have flexibility in how they comply with the ADA's general requirements. The guidance says "existing technical standards provide helpful guidance concerning how to ensure accessibility of website features" and names the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as one example [1].
The page now carries a notice that it does not reflect the rule for state and local governments published in the Federal Register on April 24, 2024 [1]. That rule covers public entities under Title II, not private restaurants under Title III.
The Robles v. Domino's case
Robles v. Domino's Pizza is a widely reported case in discussions of restaurant website accessibility. A blind man, Guillermo Robles, sued Domino's under the ADA and California law over the accessibility of its website and mobile app. The district court dismissed the case, and in January 2019 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that dismissal.
Nation's Restaurant News summarized the panel's reasoning this way: "the website and app connected customers to the goods and services of Domino's physical restaurants." The same report says the court rejected Domino's argument that applying the ADA without specific regulations violated due process [2]. Domino's asked the Supreme Court to review the decision, and the Court denied the petition on October 7, 2019 [3]. Domino's said at the time that it looked forward to presenting its case at the trial court [2].
The case does not set a single national rule; it is a decision of one federal appeals court. It is widely discussed because it involved a restaurant chain and online ordering, which is exactly the kind of feature many restaurant websites now offer.
What accessibility means on a restaurant site
WCAG 2.2 is organized around four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust [4]. On a restaurant site, that translates into specific, practical checks.
| Area | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Menus | Menus are HTML text, not images or scanned PDFs | Screen readers cannot read text inside an image |
| Images | Meaningful photos have text alternatives; decorative ones are marked as decorative | Guests using screen readers hear what is useful |
| Contrast | Text has enough contrast against its background | Low contrast is hard to read, especially outdoors |
| Keyboard | Every link, button and form works without a mouse | Some guests navigate by keyboard or switch |
| Focus | A visible outline shows where the keyboard focus is | Keyboard users need to see where they are |
| Forms | Every field has a label and errors are explained in text | Booking and contact forms must be usable |
| Tap targets | Buttons are large enough to tap; WCAG 2.2 added a target size criterion at level AA | Small buttons cause mis-taps |
| Widgets | Booking and ordering tools are tested with a keyboard and a screen reader | Third-party tools are part of your site's experience |
| Media | Videos have captions and do not autoplay with sound | Guests who are deaf or hard of hearing need captions |
Menus deserve special attention
Menus need particular care. A PDF menu exported from a design program may contain no real text at all, and a photo of a printed menu certainly contains none. An HTML menu with proper headings for each section, prices in text and dietary marks explained in words is the most reliable approach. Our menu guide covers how to keep a printable version without maintaining two menus.
Third-party booking and ordering tools
Reservation and ordering platforms that you did not build are still part of the guest's experience on your site. When choosing or reviewing a tool, ask the provider about its accessibility testing, try a booking yourself with only a keyboard, and test it with the screen reader built into your phone. If an embedded widget is hard to use, linking to the provider's own page can sometimes work better.
Accessibility plug-ins
A single script added to a page is sometimes sold as a full accessibility fix. These tools cannot fix a menu that is an image or a form without labels; those problems live in the site itself. We recommend fixing the underlying issues rather than relying on an overlay.
A practical plan
- Test your own site: try to read the menu and make a booking using only a keyboard, then with your phone's screen reader.
- Replace image and PDF menus with HTML text.
- Add text alternatives to meaningful images.
- Check contrast on buttons, menus and text over photos.
- Test booking and ordering tools and talk to providers about any problems.
- Add an accessibility statement with a way for guests to report barriers.
- Review the site whenever you add a new feature or tool.
Accessibility helps every guest
The same changes that help guests with disabilities help everyone. Text menus load faster and read better on small screens. Clear labels reduce booking errors. Good contrast makes the site readable on a bright patio. Accessibility work is rarely wasted.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official technical standard for restaurant websites under the ADA?
The DOJ's 2022 guidance does not set one for businesses open to the public; it says businesses have flexibility and points to WCAG as helpful guidance. WCAG 2.2 level AA is a practical target, and it is the level we design to.
Does a small restaurant have to worry about this?
The DOJ guidance speaks about businesses open to the public in general. How it applies to your restaurant is a question for an attorney who knows your situation.
Will an accessibility widget make my site compliant?
A widget cannot fix problems built into the site, such as image menus or unlabeled forms. Fixing those directly is more reliable.
Where can guests report a problem?
We recommend an accessibility statement with an email address. Ours is on our accessibility page.
Sources
Checked on October 29, 2026.
- U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA. Published March 18, 2022. Primary source
- Nation's Restaurant News, Supreme Court hands win to blind man who sued Domino's over website accessibility. October 7, 2019. Secondary source
- Supreme Court of the United States, Docket No. 18-1539, Domino's Pizza, LLC v. Guillermo Robles. Petition denied October 7, 2019. Primary source
- W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. Primary source
