If you run a UK public-sector website, accessibility is a formal requirement. Other organisations should not assume accessibility is irrelevant simply because the specific public-sector website regulations do not apply to them.
For public-sector bodies, current government guidance says websites and mobile apps should meet WCAG 2.2 at level AA and publish an accessibility statement. The regulations sit alongside existing duties under the Equality Act 2010.
Schools have some specific exemptions under the public-sector regulations, so the exact legal position depends on the organisation and content concerned. Government guidance recommends seeking legal advice where applicability is uncertain.
This article is therefore practical guidance, not legal advice.
Accessibility is about whether people can actually use the site
A website can look perfectly clear to its designer and still create serious barriers.
Government guidance highlights problems such as being unable to navigate by keyboard, links or controls that are difficult to operate, inaccessible PDFs, text that cannot be adjusted, images without useful alternatives and video without captions or transcripts.
That makes accessibility broader than adding alt text to images.
It affects design, development, writing, documents and ongoing publishing.
Why this matters beyond compliance
Consider a school website.
A parent may be trying to find an admissions form using a phone with enlarged text.
Another visitor may use a screen reader.
Someone may have a temporary injury that makes mouse use difficult.
A user may simply be trying to read a low-contrast page outdoors on a small screen.
Accessible design removes unnecessary barriers.
That generally means clearer structure, meaningful headings, sensible contrast, keyboard usability, understandable links and properly prepared content.
PDFs deserve attention
Organisations often concentrate accessibility work on web pages while continuing to upload large numbers of poorly structured PDFs.
For some public-sector organisations, downloadable documents are within the accessibility requirements, subject to the regulations’ scope and exemptions. The Department for Education specifically highlights PDFs and Word documents within its accessibility guidance.
There is also a practical communication issue.
If essential information exists only inside an inaccessible document, improving the surrounding webpage does not solve the user’s problem.
Ask whether the information really needs to be a PDF at all.
What is an accessibility statement?
For organisations covered by the public-sector regulations, an accessibility statement explains the accessibility status of the website or app, known issues, ways to obtain alternatives and how users can report accessibility problems.
Government guidance says the statement should be written in plain English and reviewed regularly, including following major changes and at least annually.
It should not be treated as a badge saying the website is accessible.
The underlying site still needs to be assessed.
Automated testing is useful, but it is not the whole audit
Automated tools can identify some common problems quickly.
They cannot reliably determine whether every page makes sense to a real user, whether alternative text communicates the right information or whether a journey is genuinely usable with assistive technology.
Government guidance allows organisations to use different assessment methods depending on circumstances and recommends testing a representative sample of content and functionality against WCAG 2.2 AA.
Accessibility should be part of redesign planning
Retrofitting accessibility after a website has been designed and populated can create avoidable work.
If you are already redesigning, consider it while deciding typography, colours, navigation, components, forms, document handling and editorial processes.
The aim is not simply to pass an automated score.
It is to make important information usable by as many of the people you serve as reasonably possible.
If accessibility is being considered as part of a website redesign, Synergise Media can help make it part of the structure and content planning rather than an afterthought.