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Council websites will need to raise their game to meet new EU requirements says GDS accessibility chief
People with disabilities need to be able to use websites as easily as people without a disability. This is enshrined in the Equality Act, and website owners can already be prosecuted if they can't.
However, as is explained in this podcast new EU regulations coming into force on 23 September 2018 will require most public sector websites to do more. First, all websites will have to publish an accessibility statement, and second, they will need to meet EU accessibility standards, meaning, for those that know about these things, WCAG 2.0 to level AA. Public sector websites will be subject to monitoring of their performance in meeting these requirements. Recent testing by Socitm's Better Connected programme suggests that most local authority websites do not currently meet WCAG 2.0 to level AA.
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By Joe TibbettsPeople with disabilities need to be able to use websites as easily as people without a disability. This is enshrined in the Equality Act, and website owners can already be prosecuted if they can't.
However, as is explained in this podcast new EU regulations coming into force on 23 September 2018 will require most public sector websites to do more. First, all websites will have to publish an accessibility statement, and second, they will need to meet EU accessibility standards, meaning, for those that know about these things, WCAG 2.0 to level AA. Public sector websites will be subject to monitoring of their performance in meeting these requirements. Recent testing by Socitm's Better Connected programme suggests that most local authority websites do not currently meet WCAG 2.0 to level AA.