Market focus · United Kingdom
Accessibility law in United Kingdom: is your site demonstrably in order?
The Equality Act duty is anticipatory: waiting for a complaint is no defence. There is no fine cap, a court can award damages.
- Law: Equality Act 2010 (private) + PSBAR 2018 (public sector)
- In force: Equality Act since 2010; PSBAR since 2018.
- Standard: WCAG 2.2 AA (sinds 1 okt 2024)
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Enforcement: what's happening now
Public sector via PSBAR (GDS monitoring + EHRC). For private parties it runs via civil claims under the Equality Act; amounts are case-dependent, no fixed cap.
94.8% of the top 1 million home pages had detectable WCAG 2 A/AA failures in 2025; under the Equality Act 2010 UK providers must make 'reasonable adjustments' proactively, not only after complaints (WebAIM Million, 2025; Equality Act 2010). WebAIM, The WebAIM Million, 2025 Report on the Accessibility of the Top 1,000,000 Home Pages
Cross-border trade
Selling to here from abroad?
If you sell to UK customers, the Equality Act duty applies to your service, including from abroad.
- One subscription.
- One scan.
- One dossier.
- Proof for every market.
All built on WCAG: in order once is in order everywhere.
Why this matters
Accessibility isn't a checkbox for a regulator, it decides whether roughly 1 in 6 people (WHO) can use your site at all. For them, an inaccessible store isn't a minor annoyance but a closed door. Fix the error in your own code and you remove that barrier and make your site cleaner for search engines, the same fix, double the gain.
Know where you stand, before the regulator does.
Sources: gov.uk, accessibility requirements (public sector) · Pinsent Masons, disabled access to websites under UK law
Every fact is source-verified against primary sources, with a reference date per country.
Facts last verified: June 2026
Accessibility law in other countries
Europe (EAA · WCAG)
Outside Europe (ADA · AODA · etc.)