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Accessibility and the law
The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 states that public sector websites published after 23 September 2018 must be compliant with accessibility regulations by 23 September 2020.
According to the Government Digital Service (GDS) this means that all public sector websites must:
- 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 a detailed summary of the legislation and its implications for public sector bodies - Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies.
What this means is that UKHSA 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.
The 4 principles of accessibility
All our digital content must be:
Perceivable - Users must be able to perceive the information being presented (it can't be invisible to all of their senses)
Operable - Users must be able to operate the interface (the interface cannot require interaction that a user cannot perform)
Understandable - Users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface (the content or operation cannot be beyond their understanding)
Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies; users must be able to access the content as technologies advance (as technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible)
The acronym for these four principles is POUR.
Web Content Accessibility (WCAG 2.1) guidelines
The GDS guidelines are themselves based on
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The internet is changing and becoming more accessible.
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As the internet has become increasingly central to our public life - with banking, shopping, and public sector services all delivered online - it's important that people with disabilities can use these websites, or we risk excluding them.
In recent years, GOV.UK has been adapted to make it more accessible for all users, and government departments are expected to make sure that the documents and publications we are publishing are in line with the Digital Service Standard.
This goes beyond making sure that pages can be used by people with disabilities - it includes other considerations, such as making sure that all documents are published in open formats so that you don't need to own a copy of Microsoft Office.
If we don't make documents accessible, we are breaking the law
It is the law that all content is accessible to users, no matter the severity of their disability, temporary or permanent.
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Because accessibility is becoming such an important issue, organisations and individuals will make their voices heard if a website is publishing information that is inaccessible. There have been numerous cases of lawsuits being filed against companies in the UK and US in the last two years.
Public Health England is bound to comply with the internationally recognised Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG ), which set out guidelines for pages and publications, including2.1). Key principles include:
- don't rely on colour alone to communication communicate information
- provide accessible alternatives to audio and visual content
- provide clear navigation navigation through pages and documents
- ensure documents are clear and simple
- design documents, graphics and other content to work on multiple devices
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states:
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Countries are to promote access to information by providing information intended for the general public in accessible formats and technologies, by facilitating the use of Braille, sign language and other forms of communication and by encouraging the media and Internet providers to make on-line information available in accessible formats (Article 21). |
What this means is that we must offer an accessible option when publishing content, or we are breaking the law and breaching 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.
What was once advisory is increasingly becoming compulsory.
This means the old ways we used to design and publish documents now need to be changed. It is important that we do this work to ensure that we uphold the reputation of PHE.
Accessible websites are ultimately better for users
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.
If we don't make the web pages and the documents we publish accessible, we are breaking the law.
Why accessible web content is better for users
Even if it hadn't become law, all We've talked about accessibility in terms of compliance, but research suggests that in the long run , users overwhelmingly prefer to use accessible websites.This 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 - programs, for example, not just limited to Microsoft Office
- easy to read on multiple devices
- simple easier to quickly scan and learn access the relevant information
This means that accessibility isn't about customising GOV.UK so that it's acceptable to use for people with disabilities - accessibility is about finding new ways to publish information that ultimately benefits everyone.
WatchWeb accessibility perspectives: explore the impact and benefits for everyone short videos (all videos are subtitled).
Now you know why accessibility matters, find out what things we need to make accessible.
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, among a host of other resources.
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. Good places to start are the Accessibility Campaign landing page and Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies.
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 accessibility. (NB automated accessibility testers like this are generally thought to pick up only 20-30% of accessibility issues on a web page – the rest must be done by human checking.)
5. GDS guidance and blogs refer to the set of guidelines drawn up by Worcester County Council for applying accessibility in a public sector context. These are known as SCULPT (short for Structure, Colour and contrast, Use of images, Links, Plain English and Table structure). There is a useful video describing how the Worcester Council digital team developed the SCULPT guidelines
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