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Accessibility and the law
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- meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) to level AA
- make websites and apps perceivable, operable, understandable and robust (POUR)
- publish an accessibility statement
Government Digital Service guidelines
GDS has published detailed guidance for on Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies.
What this means is that we PHE must offer an accessible option when publishing content, or we are breaking the law and breaching government and GDS guidelines. What used to be advisory, has now become compulsory. This is particularly the case for public sector bodies, so Public Health England is under scrutiny to ensure that we are compliant.
Web Content Accessibility (WCAG 2.1) Guidelines
The GDS guidelines are themselves based on the internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1). These includeKey principles include:
- don't rely on colour alone to communication information
- provide accessible alternatives to visual content
- provide clear navigation navigation through pages and documents
- ensure documents are clear and simple
- design documents to , graphics and other content will work on multiple devices
It is the law that all web and mobile content be accessible to all users, no matter what the severity of their disability, temporary or permanent.
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Even if it hadn't become law, all research suggests that in the long run users overwhelmingly prefer to use accessible websites. This applies to all users, not just people with disabilities. Accessible websites and documents are:
- more straightforward to navigate
- compatible with a wider range of software - not just limited to Microsoft Office
- easy to read on multiple devices
- simple easier to quickly scan and access the relevant information
Videos
Resources
1. The benchmark for web accessibility is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1. They provide detailed guidelines and an at-a-glance overview.
2. The World Wide Web Consortium - the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web - hosts the Web Accessibility Initiative.
Alongside explanations of all the main aspects of accessibility, the site hosts a set of videos showing how people with various disabilities or requirements use the web - Web Accessibility Perspectives: Explore the Impact and Benefits for Everyone
3. The Government Digital Service has published copious content about accessibility. A good place to start is the Accessibility Campaign landing page.
4. WebAIM is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to furthering knowledge, technical skills and tools to improve web accessibility. One of these is its WAVE or Web Accessibility Evaluation tool. Paste any URL into the field at the top to get an automatic assessment of a web page's accessibilityWatch Web accessibility perspectives: explore the impact and benefits for everyone short videos (all videos are subtitled).