Website accessibility information should help people use the service and report a barrier. Describe the actual support available and known limitations honestly. Do not claim a conformance level or completed accessibility audit without evidence. The website itself and the underlying service need attention alongside the written information.
Private businesses and public sector bodies can have different specific obligations. In Great Britain, service-provider duties under the Equality Act require assessment; Northern Ireland has a separate legal framework. Identify the organisation and service before adopting a public sector statement template as a universal legal requirement.
Describe help that the business can actually provide
Write accessibility information around the tasks visitors need to complete: reading service details, sending an enquiry, booking and obtaining documents. Explain a usable contact route for assistance and known barriers honestly. Avoid an unsupported claim that the whole website meets a conformance level. If an audit covered only selected pages, identify that scope internally and do not present it as a comprehensive assessment of every journey.
Give staff a process for receiving a barrier report and arranging help. An alternative should enable the person to achieve the relevant service outcome, not simply redirect them to another inaccessible form. Ask what format or support is useful without demanding unnecessary medical detail. Record the issue and responsibility for the underlying fix so an immediate workaround does not become the permanent answer to every affected customer.
Apply the correct legal and organisational context
For service providers in Great Britain, assess the Equality Act framework and the duty to make reasonable adjustments. EHRC guidance explains the service-provider context. [1] Northern Ireland has a separate disability discrimination framework, addressed by nidirect. [2] Do not describe a public sector accessibility statement template as a universal private business requirement without checking the organisation's status and activities.
Technical accessibility standards can help specify and test work, but a statement of compliance should reflect evidence. A software overlay or automated score is not proof that real customers can use the service. Separate legal advice on duties from technical assessment of the site. The business needs both an appropriate understanding of its obligations and a practical way to remove barriers in the actual customer journey.
Prioritise the paths that affect access to service
Ask the technical team to assess keyboard navigation, visible focus, form labels, errors, readable contrast, zoom and assistive technology behaviour. Include documents, embedded booking tools and payment steps rather than only the homepage. A third-party component may still determine whether a customer can complete the business's service. Record issues by their effect on the user, not only by the ease of the code change.
For forms, check that instructions and errors do not rely only on colour or visual positioning. For documents, consider whether a usable web or alternative format is available. Avoid creating a telephone-only workaround for someone who cannot use that channel. Link the issue handling process to the actual service team so requests are not stranded in a developer backlog without an interim response.
Keep the information credible as the site changes
Nominate an owner for the accessibility page and barrier log. Explain how people can request assistance and when they should expect an acknowledgement only if that commitment is supported operationally. Date factual review information accurately. Do not invent audit dates, external certifications or user testing that has not taken place. Retain reports so future statements can be checked against their actual evidence.
Review major redesigns, new forms and third-party replacements for accessibility effects before release. The guide to Collecting information through website forms helps connect form usability with appropriate information collection. If a subscription or checkout process is involved, Online terms for a subscription service highlights the need to make cancellation and continuing commitments understandable as well as technically reachable.
For Website terms and cookie review, provide the organisation's service locations, existing accessibility wording and known customer barriers. Agree whether the work covers legal wording, technical assessment or both, and identify any specialist input needed. A useful improvement combines accurate information, a supported assistance route and prioritised fixes. Avoid presenting the publication of a statement as completion of the underlying accessibility work.
Make an accessibility report actionable
Offer a contact route that accepts a short description of the barrier without requiring the person to disclose a diagnosis. Ask for the page or task affected, the device or assistive technology if they wish to provide it, and a suitable way to respond. This gives the team enough information to investigate while avoiding unnecessary personal questions.
Track the report through an immediate service response and any longer-term repair. For example, helping somebody submit an enquiry by another accessible route may solve today's problem while a form error still needs development work. Confirm the agreed next step and test the repaired journey. Do not close the report merely because an automated accessibility scanner shows fewer warnings.
Illustrative scenario
A customer cannot complete a form using a keyboard. The business provides an accessible alternative contact route, records the barrier and fixes the control. Its accessibility information explains how to report such problems and what assistance is available, rather than asserting that every part of the site is fully accessible.
Preparation checklist
- Describe tested accessibility features and known barriers.
- Provide a usable contact route for assistance.
- Record issues, priorities and responsibility for fixes.
- Check the legal framework appropriate to the organisation and location.
Frequently asked questions
Do all private businesses need the public sector template?
Do not assume so. Identify the organisation's status and applicable legal framework. Private service-provider duties and specific public sector accessibility requirements are not identical.
Can an automated scan prove the site is accessible?
No. It can identify some issues but does not establish that people can complete every task. Base claims on the scope and results of appropriate technical and user-focused assessment.
Should we mention known problems?
Give accurate, useful information and a workable assistance route. Internally record the barrier, its impact and responsibility for fixing it rather than hiding it behind a general compliance claim.
Is the same law described for Northern Ireland?
Northern Ireland has a separate framework. Check the service and jurisdiction before applying Great Britain wording or assuming that one statutory reference covers every UK situation.
Official sources
Sources checked: 7 September 2026. Check the linked guidance for subsequent changes.
General information only. The appropriate action depends on your circumstances and the applicable jurisdiction.
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