UK compliance
UK website accessibility: what the law requires
The Equality Act 2010 does not name a technical standard, but WCAG 2.1 AA is what courts and regulators check against. Here is the risk and the cost.
TL;DR
- The Equality Act 2010 requires UK service providers, including any business with a website, to make reasonable adjustments so disabled customers can use the service. This duty is anticipatory: you fix barriers before someone complains.
- The Act does not name a technical standard, but courts and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) treat WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the working benchmark for what counts as a reasonable adjustment online.
- UK public sector websites have a separate, stricter duty under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 (PSBAR), which requires WCAG 2.1 AA directly.
- A disabled customer can bring a claim in the County Court for a business that fails this duty, and the EHRC can investigate and take enforcement action separately.
- A UK accessibility audit typically costs £1,500 to £4,000 for a small business site, £4,000 to £12,000 for a mid-size site, and £15,000 or more for an enterprise or public sector site with many services.
- Read how we audit and remediate accessibility against WCAG 2.1 AA for UK clients.
What the Equality Act actually requires
The duty is anticipatory. Waiting for a complaint is already too late.
The Equality Act 2010 requires service providers, which includes almost every business with a website selling to UK customers, to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This sits in Section 20 of the Act. The important detail most businesses miss: the duty is anticipatory. You are expected to identify and remove likely barriers in advance, instead of waiting for a specific customer to complain before fixing a broken checkout flow or an unlabelled form field.
The Act itself does not name a technical standard. It talks about "reasonable adjustments," a deliberately flexible legal test. In practice, courts and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) point to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA as the benchmark for what a reasonable adjustment looks like online. If your website meets WCAG 2.1 AA, you are in a strong position to argue you have met the Section 20 duty. If it does not, that gap is exactly what a claim or an EHRC inquiry will focus on.
Public sector organisations face a separate, more explicit rule. The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 require WCAG 2.1 AA directly, with a published accessibility statement and a formal monitoring process. Private businesses fall under the Equality Act's more general duty, but the practical target is the same standard.
The Equality Act does not name WCAG. Courts and the EHRC do, which makes WCAG 2.1 AA the practical test for a reasonable adjustment online.
What a UK accessibility audit costs
Audit cost by business size, GBP, 2026.
| Business size | Typical audit cost | Timeline | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small business | £1,500 to £4,000 | 2 to 4 weeks | Core pages, main user journey, keyboard and screen reader spot checks, written finding list |
| Mid-size business | £4,000 to £12,000 | 4 to 6 weeks | Full site, all major journeys, manual expert testing, remediation roadmap ranked by severity |
| Enterprise or public sector | £15,000 or more | 6 to 12 weeks | Multiple services or brands, PSBAR-ready documentation, accessibility statement, staff training |
At a glance
- 20
- Section of the Equality Act 2010 that sets the duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled customers.
- 2.1 AAWCAG
- The benchmark UK courts and the EHRC use to judge whether a reasonable adjustment has been made online.
- 1,500–4,000£
- Typical audit cost for a small UK business website, combining automated scanning and manual expert review.
Compliance next step
Get a compliance check on: UK website accessibility Equality Act
Send us where your site stands today. We reply with the risks that carry real exposure, not a generic checklist.
How UK accessibility risk actually shows up
Four ways the Equality Act duty turns into a real cost.
A County Court claim from a disabled customer
An individual who cannot use your website because of a disability can bring a claim in the County Court under the Equality Act. Courts can award damages, including compensation for distress, on top of the cost of fixing the underlying problem.
An EHRC investigation, separate from any individual claim
The Equality and Human Rights Commission can investigate a business on its own initiative, issue an unlawful act notice, and pursue enforcement action, independently of whether any individual customer has filed a claim.
Checkout and account journeys carry the most exposure
The anticipatory duty means the pages a customer cannot avoid, checkout, account sign-up, appointment booking, matter most. A keyboard trap or an unlabelled field on one of these pages is exactly the kind of barrier the Act expects you to have already fixed.
Public sector bodies face published monitoring
Under PSBAR, public sector websites are subject to government monitoring against WCAG 2.1 AA, with results and accessibility statements published. Non-compliance becomes visible and public, which raises the reputational cost alongside the legal one.
Common questions
What UK business owners ask before commissioning an audit.
Does the Equality Act 2010 legally require an accessible website?
The Act requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled customers, and this duty applies to websites as much as physical premises. It does not name a specific technical standard, but courts and the EHRC treat WCAG 2.1 Level AA as the practical benchmark for what a reasonable adjustment looks like online.
What is the difference between the Equality Act and PSBAR?
The Equality Act 2010 applies generally, including to private businesses, with a flexible "reasonable adjustments" duty. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 apply specifically to public sector websites and mobile apps, and require WCAG 2.1 AA directly, with a published accessibility statement and formal monitoring.
Can a customer actually sue a UK business over an inaccessible website?
Yes. A disabled customer can bring a claim in the County Court under the Equality Act if a business has failed to make reasonable adjustments. Courts can award damages, including compensation for distress, in addition to requiring the barrier to be fixed.
How much does a website accessibility audit cost in the UK?
A small business site typically costs £1,500 to £4,000 to audit. A mid-size site with more pages and user journeys runs £4,000 to £12,000. Enterprise or public sector sites with multiple services cost £15,000 or more, including PSBAR-ready documentation where relevant.
Is an automated accessibility scan enough for the UK market?
No. An automated scan catches missing alt text and contrast failures but cannot judge whether keyboard focus order makes sense or whether a screen reader user can complete a task. A defensible audit combines automated scanning with manual testing by someone using the same assistive technology a real customer would use.
What should we fix first after a UK accessibility audit?
Start with the journeys customers cannot avoid: checkout, account access, and contact or booking forms. These carry the highest legal exposure under the anticipatory duty and are usually where a complaint or claim originates.
How we audit UK website accessibility
We test against WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard courts actually check.
Our UK accessibility audits combine automated scanning with manual expert testing: keyboard-only navigation, screen reader output, colour contrast, and focus order across your core pages and customer journeys. The output is a severity-ranked finding list tied to the specific barrier and the fix, built so your team or ours can act on it directly.
We scope against WCAG 2.1 AA, the benchmark UK courts and the EHRC reference for the Equality Act's reasonable adjustments duty, and we can carry the project through remediation, retesting, and an accessibility statement. See the accessibility audit service for scope, or read our ADA compliance guide if your business also serves US customers under a parallel legal duty.
Written by
Vineet Talwar
Co-founder, Tech & Operations at Some Tech Work. WordCamp speaker across Europe and Asia, and host of the WP Shoutout podcast.
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