Picture this: a law firm’s demand letter lands in your inbox. It cites the ADA, lists website accessibility violations, and gives you 14 days to respond. Your heart sinks — because you don’t have an ADA attorney, you don’t have an accessibility developer on call, and you can’t afford a drawn-out fight.
This is the reality for small businesses today. In 2025, hundreds of thousands of demand letters will go out, and most owners will settle simply because they’re unprepared. The DAPEN® Defense Fund is how you end that vulnerability with one small, predictable annual fee.
What Is the DAPEN® Defense Fund?
The DAPEN® Defense Fund is a rapid-response membership for ADA website compliance threats. When you’re a member, protection begins immediately — before a letter ever arrives.
Once you join, a trained ADA accessibility developer will audit your website and make the most common, high-impact fixes (such as alt text, form labels, color contrast, and keyboard access). These proactive adjustments help reduce your risk and demonstrate good-faith compliance, making it less likely that legal action will be taken against you. After your audit and fixes are complete, your site is officially registered under the DAPEN® Defense Fund.
From that point forward, if a demand letter does land in your inbox, you’re no longer facing it alone — you already have your legal and technical team in place.
How It Works (From Panic to Relief)
- Specialized ADA Attorney Assigned — Your attorney reviews the letter, analyzes the claims, and drafts a professional legal response within the deadline to help keep you out of court.
- ADA Developers Deploy — Our team fixes the specific issues cited in the letter so you can show good-faith remediation fast.
- You Avoid Emergency Pricing — No more scrambling for a $5,000+ rush response. You’ve already secured the help you need at a predictable cost.
Why Reactive Care Is Essential (Even If You’re Improving Your Site)
Audits, scanners, and overlays can help you find issues, but they cannot stop a law firm from contacting you. When the letter arrives, the only thing that matters is how quickly you can respond with the right legal language and the right technical fixes. That’s the gap the Defense Fund fills.
Built for Small Businesses (Because You’re the Target)
- No in-house counsel? We provide a specialized ADA attorney.
- No accessibility developer? Our team makes the targeted fixes.
- No time to learn legal jargon? We guide the process and documentation.
Large companies already have this infrastructure. The Defense Fund gives you the same protection—without corporate prices.
Membership Benefits at a Glance
- Proactive audit & fixes by a trained ADA accessibility developer.
- Attorney-drafted response to ADA demand letters.
- Targeted remediation for issues cited in the letter.
- Documentation of improvements and guidance on next steps.
- Predictable cost that prevents panic spending and rushed settlements.
When Should I Join?
Before the letter arrives. Once you’re under a deadline, your leverage is gone and prices skyrocket. The Defense Fund is like keeping a fire crew on standby: you don’t look for a fire truck after the building is already smoking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will this make my site 100% ADA/WCAG compliant?
Do I still need to improve my site proactively?
What happens after you respond and remediate?
Next Steps
- Join the DAPEN® Defense Fund today so your audit, registration, and legal team are in place before a letter arrives.
- Publish or update your Accessibility Statement.
- Run a quick audit and address high-impact items (alt text, contrast, labels, keyboard access, captions).
Join the DAPEN Defense Fund for proactive fixes, attorney-drafted responses, and targeted website remediation if you receive an ADA demand letter.
