Accessibility Consulting
The shortcut: Most clients call you because a demand letter just hit their inbox, not because they care about WCAG. Price the audit as a fixed deliverable and quote remediation as a separate line — the agency that bundles them loses money every time.
Industry: Software & Tech | Investment level: Small — $3,000-$10,000 | Time to launch: 6-12 weeks (CPACC study + tooling setup + first paid audit gate the launch)
Best for: Front-end developers, QA engineers, or UX folks who can read HTML/ARIA, run a screen reader without flinching, and write a 20-page report that a non-technical client will actually act on. What you'll likely make: $1,000-$2,500 month 3, $3,000-$6,000 month 6, $6,000-$12,000 month 12. Math is in Section 4.
Market Opportunity
A single ADA Title III demand letter costs a small business $5,000-$25,000 to settle — and WCAG 2.1 AA audit pricing from the big agencies runs another $15,000-$50,000 on top of that. That math is what creates the opening. The buyer isn't shopping for accessibility principles. They're trying to make a lawsuit go away, and a defensible independent audit delivered in 7-10 business days for $2,500-$5,000 looks like the obvious move when the alternative is paying a BigLaw firm $400/hour to explain what "keyboard navigation" means.
ADA Title III digital accessibility lawsuits hit roughly 4,600 filings in 2024, with 2025 tracking toward nearly 5,000 — about a 20% year-over-year jump, and roughly 40% of new filings are pro se plaintiffs using AI to draft complaints at scale accessibility.works analysis. The DOJ also finalized a rule in March 2024 requiring state and local government websites to meet WCAG 2.2 AA, with the larger-entity deadline hitting April 24, 2026 ADA.gov — every municipality and public university is shopping for help right now.
The trap is thinking you compete with the big agencies. You don't. Deque, Level Access, and TPGi quote $15,000-$50,000 for a full audit with a 6-week turnaround. Your wedge is the independent specialist who delivers a WCAG 2.2 AA audit + remediation roadmap in 7-10 business days for $2,500-$5,000. Your clients either can't afford the agency rate or got told by their lawyer "we need a report by next month."
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