We carried out a discovery to understand the current state of digital accessibility in Wales, identify challenges, and explore opportunities for improvement.
The research methodology was robust, combining desk research, automated accessibility audits of 54 website homepages and 11 service pages, manual testing, interviews with service providers and users with access requirements, discussions with regulators, and a survey of service providers. This multi-faceted approach revealed significant insights into the accessibility landscape across Welsh public services.
The findings highlighted several critical issues affecting digital accessibility in Wales. Notably, the enforcement of digital accessibility standards is unclear, resulting in low prioritisation and inconsistent compliance.
Organisational responsibility for accessibility is often ambiguous, typically falling to passionate individuals rather than established processes.
The research also revealed limited accessibility skills and capability across organisations, with heavy reliance on third-party vendors whose products frequently fail to meet accessibility standards. Additionally, accessibility is commonly deprioritised compared to other mandates such as Welsh language requirements and data protection standards.
"There are no clear consequences" for not meeting accessibility regulations"
"How do we know that what they’ve [third-party suppliers] built is actually compliant with accessibility"
"Some organisations are frozen by fear of the scale of the [accessibility] problem – it's too overwhelming"
"In my mind, if you are not providing an accessible digital service, you are not providing a digital service."
The team made several recommendations around skills and guidance and strategic partnerships, which we’ve made good progress towards.