Digital content plays a crucial role in our daily lives. Whether we're browsing on our desktops, smartphones, or even wearables, Accessibility is a legal and ethical imperative. Post-lockdown/pandemic, the requirements of increased online connectivity remain. We often turn to the web as a primary point of contact for finding answers and completing tasks.

With the European Accessibility Act (EAA), coming into effect this June 28, 2025, quick solutions are available to make your digital platforms more inclusive.

What you need to know about upcoming legislation

Governments worldwide enforce stricter regulations on web accessibility standards in line with organisations like WAI and ETSI, which lead the way in digital accessibility specifications.

Did you know that approximately 24% of the UK population is estimated to have a 'disability' of which there is a 53.6% employment rate?

UK Equality Act 2010

In the UK, the Equality Act aims to reduce socio-economic inequalities relating to discrimination based on certain personal characteristics. Part of that goal requires service providers (including digital services like websites and apps) to make "reasonable adjustments" to avoid disadvantaging individuals with disabilities.

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

The EAA aims to increase opportunities cross-border and benefit individuals with disabilities. It mandates businesses offering products or services in the EU to ensure their websites and apps are Accessible to users with disabilities.

Impact on different sectors

Further examples on what different industry sectors should pay attention to involves improving user journeys and broadening their customer base:

E-commerce businesses

Online retailers are highlighted in the EAA as being most likely to lack Web Accessibility, creating barriers for persons with disabilities. Their product pages and checkout should be made easier to navigate, particularly for those using assistive tech like screen readers. Ignoring compliance can lead to loss of customer trust and satisfaction.

Financial services

Banking and finance institutions are expected to provide Accessible digital services so that all customers can manage their finances, online banking statements and forms without barriers.

Healthcare providers

Health and wellness are essential for all of us and could be made more Accessible with effective appointment booking systems and medical records management.

Recruitment and job postings

Job postings, applications and interview stages have largely gravitated to online platforms. Theses should be designed to accommodate candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds, including those using assistive technologies.

Travel and hospitality

Booking platforms, from hotels to restaurants and informational websites, need to cater to users with disabilities. Accessible interfaces and content open up opportunities by increasing inclusivity.

Public sectors

Public sector bodies were some of the first to be mandated with EU Website directives (EU Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies Regulations 2020), which continue to apply in the UK.

Enhancing your web accessibility isn't just a one-time task. It's an ongoing process. Regular audits and upkeep are essential to identify and address underlying issues and compliance with evolving guidelines and regulations. Meeting standards like the WCAG 2.2 (3.0 is on the horizon for 2026) and EN 301 549 (latest v3.2.1) benefit your customer experience.

SEO and UX benefits

Improving Web Accessibility not only ensures legal compliance, but also enhances Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and User Experience (UX):

• Enhanced Search rankings and visibility: Accessible websites have well-structure with meta tagging and semantics that can more easily be crawled and indexed by search engines.
• Increased audience reach: by catering to users with specific needs you position your brand as a more inclusive and user-friendly brand.
• Better user engagement: Accessible design tends to improve usability for all users with clearer information architecture, semantics and modern minimalistic layout.

How to become more Accessible

Helping you achieve compliance starts with identifying the higher impact painpoints for your customers, then looking at your internal organisation's processes for gaps. We can guide you through the process of achieving Web Accessibility across the following areas:

Assessment

• Web Accessibility auditing: benchmarking compliance with WCAG, ADA, HEN and Google Core Web Vitals.
• Monthly monitoring and reporting: stay informed with regular updates on your web accessibility performance and impact.

Remediation

• PDF remediation and MS Office doc remediation: ensuring all of your documents, customer-facing and in-house, are accessible to everyone.
• VPAT support: Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates to showcase your business's commitment to accessibility.

Consulting

• Accessibility statement writing: our partner Legal Support Programme, can take care of writing a comprehensive Accessibility Statement for your business.
• Web Accessibility tech solutions: discover a suite of Accessibility plugins, widgets and AI-powered automation to quickly make you compliant (UserWay or AccessiBe partners are recommended).
• Training and support: educating your team on best practices and guidelines to maintain compliance and enhance UX.