Web accessibility
Web accessibility means ensuring that online services and content can be used and understood by everyone - including people using assistive technologies, like screen readers or screen magnifiers.
The law
In the public sector, web accessibility is a legal requirement, enshrined in The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018.
In simple terms, it says that any content you publish on a website must work with assistive technologies. These are tools that some people - especially those with disabilities or problems with their vision - may be using to read your content.
To meet the minimum legal requirements, your website must:
meet the standards set out in the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG); and
include a compliant accessibility statement
It's worth clarifying at this point what 'website' means from the perspective of the regulators - the Government Digital Service (GDS).
Most people assume that 'website' refers to the main public website of your organisation. But that's not quite right.
The Department of Work and Pensions accessibility manual states: "GDS will consider anything using web technologies as a website. It doesn’t matter if it’s for internal use only or if you call it a programme, a tool or a portal. If it runs in a browser and it’s using web technologies such as http protocols, then it is considered a website..."
This means all public sector websites or apps, as well as staff intranets or extranets are subject to the regulations - almost any digital platform your organisation uses to communicate internally or externally.
If your content is non-compliant then some people may not be able to access the information that you publish, and that may breach their rights under the Equality Act.
There are additional accessibility requirements if your organisation is following the gov.uk service standard, such as including people with disabilities in user research and testing your content with common assistive technologies.
Who it's for
Some people use assistive technologies, such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, voice recognition or Braille displays, to access the internet.
Content published online by the public sector must work for everyone, regardless of their situation, so your website should be compatible with the assistive technologies that people use.
Importantly - the regulations don't ask you to add accessibility overlays or widgets to your website (to help people change font size, colour contrast or read your content out loud). People with long-term disabilities have their own tools for browsing the web so your web pages and other content must work with those.
Most people don't have a choice when using public sector websites – there isn’t anywhere else to get the information or services they need – so it’s important that content works for them.
Sometimes the people who need this information the most are those who find it hardest to access.
But, people without disabilities also benefit hugely from accessible content, including anyone:
using smart TVs, mobile phones, smart watches and other devices with small screens, different input modes, etc
with temporary disabilities, such as a broken arm, lost glasses or eye injuries
with situational limitations, such as being in bright sunlight or in an environment where they cannot listen to audio – a busy café or library, for instance
with a slow internet connection, or who have limited or expensive bandwidth
with changing abilities due to older age
Monitoring and enforcement
The Government Digital Service (GDS) monitors the compliance of public sector websites on behalf of the Minister for the Cabinet Office.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in England, Scotland and Wales enforces the regulations.
GDS has the power to refer public sector bodies to the EHRC where they find non-compliance.
Get help
At the most fundamental level, you need to know how your site performs against the latest web accessibility standards and get your accessibility statement up-to-date.
We can carry out an audit of your website and replace your accessibility statement with an up-to-date compliant one, which should be refreshed annually.
We can also help to refine your processes and develop your team so that you can meet a higher standard of accessibility now and into the future.
