Web accessibility

Accessibility is a legal and ethical imperative. UK and EU legislation now requires businesses to make digital services usable for people with disabilities. That covers websites and apps, plus any digital point of contact.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) came into force on 28 June 2025. The UK Equality Act has required reasonable adjustments to digital services since 2010.

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

How accessibility plays out across different sectors:

E-commerce businesses

Online retailers are flagged in the EAA as a priority sector. Product pages and checkout flows are the common gaps, especially for users on screen readers. Non-compliance can mean loss of customers and risk of legal complaints.

Financial services

Banks and finance providers are expected to make online banking and account management usable for all customers.

Healthcare providers

Healthcare providers need accessible appointment booking and medical records management. The stakes are higher than most sectors, since users may be dealing with urgent care needs.

Recruitment and job postings

Job postings and application flows are now mostly online. Both need to accommodate candidates using assistive technologies.

Travel and hospitality

Booking and travel platforms need to work for users with disabilities. Accessible design also expands the addressable customer base.

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

Accessibility work also improves SEO and UX. The gains overlap:

• 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

Compliance work starts with identifying the highest-impact pain points for your users. Then we look at your internal processes. Work covers 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.