Reviewed October 16, 2026

The first 48 hours after an accessibility complaint about your Shopify store

A complaint or demand letter starts a clock, and the first two days set the tone. What to preserve, who to loop in, and which quick moves help or hurt.

Slow down and preserve everything

The first instinct, to start changing the store immediately, can destroy the record of what the complaint actually describes. Before editing anything, save dated screenshots or recordings of the pages named, note your current theme version and installed apps, and keep the complaint itself and its envelope or email headers intact. This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation.

Preservation is not delay for its own sake. Every fix you later make will be compared against the state of the store when the complaint arrived, and your own dated capture is the version of events you control. Stores that skip this step end up arguing from memory.

Get the right people in the room

Loop in qualified legal counsel early, before replying. Accessibility complaints follow legal patterns counsel recognizes, including deadlines and prescribed response shapes that a well meant casual email can complicate. If you carry relevant insurance, check notification duties there too, because some policies have clocks of their own.

Internally, name one owner for the response and one technical person who can assess the store. Complaints stall in stores where everyone assumes someone else is handling it, and the first 48 hours is when the handling structure gets set.

Assess honestly, fix carefully

Have your technical person walk the exact barriers alleged, with a keyboard and assistive technology where relevant, and write down what is true. Some allegations are accurate, some are outdated, some describe a competitor’s store entirely. Knowing which is which, from evidence, is the foundation of every sensible next step.

Genuine barriers that block checkout deserve prompt fixing regardless of the legal track, because they are also blocking customers today. Fix them as normal releases, and keep the fix records factual and dated. What not to do is announce conclusions publicly or promise specific outcomes before counsel has seen the whole picture.

Communicate like it will be read back

Assume every message you send about the complaint will be reread later by someone unsympathetic. Keep replies factual, brief, and routed through counsel where they advise it. Do not contact the complainant informally to talk it out, however friendly the impulse, and do not speculate in team chat about motives or legitimacy.

By the end of 48 hours you want four things: the record preserved, counsel engaged, the alleged barriers assessed against evidence, and an owner with a plan. That is a controlled situation. Everything after builds on whether those two days were orderly or improvised.

Frequently asked questions

Should I reply to an accessibility demand letter myself?

Get legal counsel before replying. These letters often carry deadlines and legal framing where a casual or overly detailed self written response can create obligations or admissions you did not intend. A short holding response through counsel protects your options while the store is assessed.

Should I start fixing barriers immediately?

Preserve the current state first with dated captures, then fix genuine barriers promptly and document the work. Fixing is good. Fixing before recording what existed leaves you unable to show what changed. The order matters: evidence, assessment, then remediation.

Can I just install an accessibility overlay as my response?

An overlay does not remediate the structural barriers most complaints allege, and treating it as the response signals that the complaint was not taken seriously. If barriers are real, they need real fixes in the theme and content. Counsel can advise how any tooling fits a broader remediation plan.

Who inside the store should own the response?

One named owner, usually the store owner or a senior operator, coordinating counsel on the legal side and one technical person on the assessment side. Diffusion is the enemy: complaints that belong to everyone get answered by no one, and deadlines do not grade on intentions.