Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of recommendations for making your content accessible. It applies to all web-facing content including digital services, websites and apps. 

The guidance makes it more accessible to users with impairments such as:

• blindness and low vision
• deafness and hearing loss
• limited movement
• speech disabilities
• photosensitivity 

And combinations of the above. No list will be exhaustive, but it’s a great start when thinking about different user's needs.

WCAG provides success criteria intended to test your services and content, so you know where and how you’re unintentionally presenting barriers to access.

Our recommendation

Your products and services should meet the WCAG 2.2 AA standard to comply with the UK law.

As a public body

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (the ‘accessibility regulations’).

Only a small number of public bodies are given an exemption from meeting this standard where considered disproportionate.

CDPS won’t be monitoring your compliance, but you should seek legal advice if you believe you’re not meeting these obligations, even if your website or service is outsourced.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcement where websites or apps are not accessible.