I Built a Website Compliance Calculator While Researching ADA, GDPR, and Cookie Laws (And Now I’m Slightly Terrified)

While researching website compliance laws recently, I discovered something mildly unsettling. Most websites are accidentally breaking at least one law. Not in a dramatic “SWAT team at your door” kind of way… More like a “you receive a polite legal notice from a lawyer on a random Tuesday afternoon” kind of way. And the funny part? Many developers and founders don’t even realize these regulations apply to websites. The Internet Got Regulated While We Were Busy Shipping Features For a long time, building a website was simple. You needed: HTML some CSS maybe a little JavaScript a contact form Congratulations, you had a website. Fast forward to today and websites now operate under a growing list of regulations like: ADA website accessibility WCAG accessibility standards GDPR privacy regulations CCPA data protection laws Cookie consent requirements PCI DSS payment security Which means your friendly little website may now be subject to international privacy laws and accessibility standards.