Website accessibility in the UK: what the law expects and how to check your site

This is general guidance, not legal advice. If you have a specific obligation or complaint, speak to a solicitor.

Around one in five people in the UK has a disability, and many more have temporary or situational impairments: a broken arm, a bright sunny screen, a slow connection. An accessible website works for all of them, and it usually converts better for everyone else too.

The rules that apply to UK websites

The Equality Act 2010 (all businesses)

The Equality Act requires anyone providing services to the public to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people aren't put at a substantial disadvantage. Websites and apps are a service. The Act doesn't name a technical standard, but WCAG is the yardstick most organisations, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, point to.

Public sector accessibility regulations

Public sector bodies must meet WCAG AA and publish an accessibility statement under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018. If you build sites for councils, schools or NHS organisations, this applies to your work.

The European Accessibility Act (selling into the EU)

Since 28 June 2025 the European Accessibility Act has required many consumer-facing services in the EU, including e-commerce, to be accessible. It can apply to UK businesses selling to EU consumers. Micro-enterprises providing services (fewer than ten staff and turnover or balance sheet of €2 million or less) are exempt from the service requirements.

What WCAG 2.2 AA means in practice

WCAG (the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a long document, but for a typical marketing site most failures fall into a short list:

• Text that's too faint: body text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background
• Images with no text description (alt text) for screen readers
• Form fields without proper labels, or with placeholder text instead of a label
• Buttons and links with no readable name, usually icons
• Tap targets that are too small or too close together on mobile
• Meaning carried by colour alone, such as links that are only a different colour
• Things that can't be reached or used with a keyboard
• Text over busy images with no backing

How to check your site

1. Run an automated checker against WCAG 2.2 AA. Automated tools catch a good share of common problems, not all of them.
2. Tab through your key pages with the keyboard only. Can you see where you are, and reach every link, button and form field?
3. Zoom your browser to 200%. Does anything overlap or disappear?
4. Turn on your phone's screen reader (VoiceOver or TalkBack) and try to complete your main action.
5. Fix the problems on your most important pages first: homepage, contact, checkout.

A word on accessibility overlays

Plug-in "accessibility widgets" that promise compliance in one line of code don't fix the underlying problems, and disabled users often find they get in the way of the tools they already use. Fix the site itself.

AgoraScan runs around 90 automated WCAG 2.2 checks on every scan, plus visual checks that automated tools miss, like text over images. Every issue comes with the affected elements and the fix.