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Website Accessibility for UK Businesses: What WCAG 2.2 Actually Requires
Reviewed by: ARS Developer Team | Updated: 30 Sep 2026 | UK Focus: Buyer-intent SEO, web delivery, and measurable conversion growth.
Quick Summary
Accessibility is a legal duty for UK businesses under the Equality Act, not a nice-to-have. Here is what that means in practice, and the handful of fixes that cover most of it.
In This Guide
Why This Article Is Trustworthy
- Reviewed by the ARS Developer editorial team for UK business relevance.
- Structured around buyer-intent SEO, technical delivery, and measurable conversion outcomes.
- Connected to related service pages, pricing guidance, and supporting articles for stronger topic depth.
Quick Answer
UK businesses providing services to the public have a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, and that includes their website. WCAG 2.2 is the standard used to judge whether a site meets it — and the majority of real failures come down to about six recurring problems.
The six failures that account for most of it
Automated testing consistently finds the same things: text that does not have enough contrast against its background, images without alternative text, form inputs with no associated label, links whose text is "click here" or "read more" out of context, pages with no heading structure, and content that cannot be reached or operated with a keyboard alone.
None of these is difficult. They persist because nobody tested — and because a designer choosing light grey on white, or a developer using a div where a button belongs, produces something that looks correct to them.
Test with the keyboard first
Put the mouse aside and move through your own site using only Tab, Shift+Tab and Enter. You will find out in two minutes whether a keyboard user can operate it. Watch for focus that disappears entirely, a menu that cannot be opened, a modal that traps you inside it, and a cookie banner that takes fifty presses to get past.
This single test catches more genuine problems than any automated scan, because scanners check what can be checked mechanically and keyboard operability is mostly a question of behaviour.
What WCAG 2.2 added that catches sites out
The 2.2 criteria are mostly about not obstructing people. Focus must not be hidden behind a sticky header — a common failure on modern sites where the focused element scrolls under a fixed bar. Dragging must have a single-pointer alternative, so a slider or a drag-to-reorder control needs buttons as well.
There is also a requirement not to make people re-enter information they have already given in the same process, and one about not relying on the user remembering something to complete a task. Both tend to affect multi-step checkouts and booking flows.
Accessibility overlays are not a fix
The widgets that promise instant compliance from one line of JavaScript are widely rejected by disabled users and by accessibility professionals, and they have featured in legal claims rather than preventing them. They sit on top of the problem instead of removing it, and they frequently interfere with the assistive technology a visitor is already using.
The work that genuinely helps is unglamorous: fix the contrast, label the inputs, write the alt text, use real buttons, get the heading order right. It is a few days on most sites and it does not recur.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is accessibility legally required for a private UK business?
The Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments, and this is generally understood to include websites. The stricter public sector regulations apply to public bodies specifically.
Which WCAG level should we aim for?
AA is the level referenced by UK and international regulation and is the practical target. AAA is not expected across a whole site.
Do automated checkers find everything?
No. They reliably catch contrast, missing alt text and unlabelled inputs, but they cannot judge whether alt text is useful or whether a journey makes sense with a screen reader.
How long does it take to fix a typical small business site?
Most sites are a few days of work once the issues are identified, because the same handful of problems repeat across every template.
Next Step
An accessibility audit tells you where you actually stand rather than where a widget claims you do. Ask us for one on your current site.
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