78% of ADA Lawsuits Target Small Business

Website compliance, ADA accessibility lawsuits, and privacy law enforcement are creating real financial exposure for small and mid-sized businesses. Tedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential, sits down with Michael Williams, co-founder and CFO of Clym, to unpack the growing wave of website regulation hitting SMBs and why most operators have no idea they are at risk.Watch episode hereOver 5,100 federal ADA lawsuits were filed in 2025, up 30% from the prior year, with 78% targeting small businesses. Twenty US states now have active privacy laws, GDPR fines hit $1.2 billion globally, and California's CCPA issued a record $1.35 million penalty. Michael breaks down how enforcement works based on consumer location rather than business headquarters, why third-party scripts and chatbots create hidden liability, and how compliant websites saw roughly 30% more search visibility over the past year. New HHS enforcement requires healthcare organizations to meet elevated accessibility standards, with fines up to $150,000 per incident starting within weeks.Find out more1️⃣ Audit every third-party script, tracking pixel, and embedded tool on your website to identify consent gaps before a plaintiff's attorney does.2️⃣ Map your customer traffic by state and match it against the 20 active US privacy laws to build compliance around your actual footprint.3️⃣ Run accessibility and privacy fixes through your marketing budget since compliant sites rank higher and capture customers competitors are losing.4️⃣ Profile your own business first, including headcount, revenue, locations, and data collected, before evaluating any compliance vendor.5️⃣ Require audit-ready, timestamped consent records from day one so you have receipts when a regulator or attorney comes knocking.GUEST LINKSMichael Williams LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-williams-clym/COMPANY LINKSClym Website: https://www.clym.io/Clym LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clymLearn More: https://fintechconfidential.com/climbFINTECH CONFIDENTIALPodcast: https://fintechconfidential.com/listenNotifications: https://fintechconfidential.com/accessLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fintechconfidentialX: https://x.com/FTconfidentialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/fintechconfidentialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/fintechconfidentialSUPPORTERSUnder.io streamlines application and underwriting by digitizing PDFs for digital signature: under.io/FTCSkyflow is a zero trust data privacy vault delivered as an API, covering PCI, CCPA, GDPR, SOC 2, and beyond: skyflowsecure.comDFNS provides wallets as a service that is API first, multi-chain by design, and secured with MPC: fintechconfidential.com/dfnsHawk AI offers real-time payment screening, AML transaction monitoring, and dynamic customer risk rating: gethawk.comABOUT THE GUESTMichael Williams is the co-founder and CFO of Clym. He started his career as a state and local tax attorney at Ernst & Young before serving as CFO of a global travel management company, where a failed $100,000 GDPR consulting engagement inspired the creation of Clym in 2018. Michael holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law.ABOUT CLYMClym is an all-in-one website compliance platform founded in 2018 that covers 160-plus regulations, catalogs over 1,200 third-party services, and integrates with WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Magento, and other major platforms.ABOUT THE HOSTTedd Huff, CEO of fintech advisory firm Voalyre and founder of Fintech Confidential. Produced by DD3 Media, Fintech Confidential brings you the people, tech, and companies that change how you pay and get paid.CHAPTERS00:00 Episode Highlights01:03 Welcome to Fintech Confidential01:12 DFNS: Wallets as a Service (sponsor)02:30 Meet Michael Williams and Clym03:41 Why Compliance Gets Ignored05:24 SMB Lawsuit Reality Check06:49 ADA CCPA and GDPR by the Numbers08:21 How Big Is the Problem Really09:13 Consumer Location Based Enforcement10:12 Third Party Script Risks11:55 Compliance as a Growth Lever14:19 Restaurant Menus Losing Customers15:16 New ADA Enforcement Wave17:27 Will Enforcement Follow FTC Pattern18:36 Why Clym Goes Broad20:25 Clym Origin Story22:52 Staying Ahead of 160 Regulations24:32 Beyond Basic Cookie Banners26:38 Skyflow: Zero Trust Privacy Vault (sponsor)27:40 Edge Cases and Flexibility28:38 Company Intake Profiling29:54 Five Minute Setup Promise30:52 Ecommerce Platform Gaps32:34 Vibe Coding Compliance Risks33:49 Why Copying Big Brands Fails35:42 Trusted Advisor Partnerships37:29 Compliance as a Service Response39:05 Lawsuit Economics and Dress Shop Story40:45 Audit Ready Litigation Support42:25 Shared Liability Hosted Pages43:28 Third Party Script Tracking45:51 Enforcement Trends Ahead47:45 Crystal Ball Future Outlook49:49 Browser Companies Wont Fix It51:01 Proactive Compliance Benefits52:49 Wrap Up and Resources54:19 Hawk AI: Realtime Fraud Monitoring (sponsor)55:05 Disclaimer