Do Charity and Public Sector Websites Have to Meet Accessibility Regulations?

If your organisation is a public sector body in Wales, such as a council, health board, college or another organisation that is mostly funded by public money, the answer is yes. Your website has to meet the WCAG 2.2 AA standard and publish an accessibility statement under the accessibility regulations for public sector websites. Most charities are exempt from those regulations, but not all of them are, and every organisation that provides a service still has duties under the Equality Act 2010. This guide explains how to work out where you stand and what to do next.

Who the accessibility regulations cover

The rules are set out in the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018. According to the government guidance on accessibility requirements, they apply to central and local government organisations and to some charities and other non-government organisations. They cover public-facing websites, intranets, extranets and mobile apps developed for public use.

When a charity is covered

Charities and other non-government organisations are exempt unless at least one of these applies:

• they are mostly funded by public money
• they provide services that are essential to the public
• their services are aimed at disabled people

Partial exemptions

Primary and secondary schools and nurseries are partly exempt. They do not have to make everything accessible, but the content people need in order to use their services must be, and they still need to publish an accessibility statement. Public sector broadcasters are fully exempt.

What WCAG 2.2 AA actually asks for

WCAG stands for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the W3C. Version 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023. It keeps almost everything from version 2.1, removes one obsolete criterion (4.1.1 Parsing) and adds nine new success criteria, as listed in the W3C summary of what is new in WCAG 2.2. Six of the new criteria are at level A or AA, so they matter for the public sector standard:

• Focus Not Obscured (Minimum): when someone moves through the page with a keyboard, the item they are on should not be completely hidden behind a sticky header, chat widget or cookie banner.
• Dragging Movements: anything that needs dragging, such as a slider, should also work with a single tap or click.
• Target Size (Minimum): buttons and links need to be big enough, or spaced far enough apart, to be pressed easily. The guideline uses 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with some exceptions.
• Consistent Help: if you offer help, such as contact details or a help page link, it should appear in the same place across pages.
• Redundant Entry: people should not have to type the same information twice in the same process, for example on a multi-step donation or referral form.
• Accessible Authentication (Minimum): logging in should not depend on remembering or solving something, like a puzzle, unless there is an alternative.

The older criteria still apply too, and in practice they are where most problems are found: missing image descriptions, poor colour contrast, unlabelled form fields, confusing heading structure and pages that cannot be used with a keyboard.

The accessibility statement

Organisations covered by the regulations must publish an accessibility statement on the website or app it relates to. It should explain how accessible the site is, list any content you have not fixed because it is exempt, and list anything you have decided would be a disproportionate burden to fix. If your site is run by an outside supplier, the statement should also set out the plans you have agreed for fixing remaining issues. The guidance says to review and update it regularly, so it is not a one-off job.

Content you may not need to fix

Some content is exempt from the regulations, including:

• PDFs and other documents published before 23 September 2018, unless people need them to use one of your services
• pre-recorded audio and video published before 23 September 2020
• live audio and video
• maps, as long as essential information is provided in an accessible way
• third-party content you have not paid for or developed, such as social media buttons
• archived websites that are not needed for services and are not updated

You can also claim that a particular fix would be a disproportionate burden, but this needs a proper assessment. The guidance is clear that you cannot count things like lack of time or knowledge.

If your charity is exempt, does any of this matter?

Yes, to a degree. The regulations build on the Equality Act 2010, and the government guidance points out that all UK service providers have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. That duty still applies if you are exempt from the regulations. A common example is providing information in an accessible format when someone asks for it.

Who checks and enforces this?

In England, Scotland and Wales, the Equality and Human Rights Commission enforces the requirement, with powers that include investigations, unlawful act notices and court action. Separately, the Government Digital Service monitors a sample of public sector websites and apps each year.

Where to start

1. Work out whether you are covered. Use the three tests above for charities, and note any partial exemptions.
2. Check the site against WCAG 2.2 AA. Automated checkers are a useful first pass but cannot test everything, so add manual checks such as moving through every page with only a keyboard.
3. Fix the common issues first. Image descriptions, colour contrast, form labels, headings and keyboard access usually make the biggest difference.
4. Publish or update your accessibility statement. Be honest about what still needs work and when you plan to fix it.
5. Build it into routine upkeep. New pages, documents and plugins can introduce problems, so accessibility checks belong in your regular website support and maintenance.

If your site is bilingual, remember that the Welsh and English versions are both part of your website, so both need to meet the same standard. There is more on this on the bilingual and accessible websites page.

Frequently asked questions

Our charity gets some council funding. Are we covered by the accessibility regulations?

Only if you are mostly publicly funded, provide services essential to the public, or your services are aimed at disabled people. Some grant funding on its own does not bring you under the regulations, but the Equality Act duty to make reasonable adjustments still applies.

Is WCAG 2.1 still enough?

The current government guidance names WCAG 2.2 AA as the standard for public sector bodies. If your site already meets 2.1 AA, you are most of the way there and need to check the six new A and AA criteria.

Do we have to fix all our old PDFs?

Not usually. Documents published before 23 September 2018 are exempt unless people need them to use your services, such as an application form. Newer documents are covered, so it is often easier to publish key information as web pages instead.

If you would like a second opinion on your website’s accessibility or help writing an accessibility statement, get in touch with 81 Digital.