Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA) on your school website
Your website needs to work for disabled people, and the standard to meet is WCAG 2.2 AA.
Check this on my websiteWho it applies to
- Published on
- School and trust websites
- School type
- Academies and maintained schools
- School stage
- All stages, from early years to sixth form
- Does not apply to
- No school types are excluded
When it's due
Keep it up to date
There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
What's needed
Make every page on your website meet the WCAG 2.2 AA standard, fixing problems with colour contrast, image alt text, form labels and heading order.
What it must contain
2 parts- Makes the website perceivable, operable, understandable and robustMust: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.
- Meets the WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standardShould: Recommended in official guidance, such as the DfE's. Not a legal requirement in itself.
What the official sources say
Set out in 2 official sources:
Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/952)
6 Subject to regulation 7, public sector bodies must comply with the accessibility requirement.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ SI 2018/952 reg 6 (definition of 'accessibility requirement' in reg 3; application dates in reg 5)
9 A website or mobile application of a public sector body will be presumed to be in conformity with the accessibility requirement to the extent that the website or mobile application conforms to Level A and AA Success Criteria as set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommended by the World Wide Web Consortium, as amended from time to time.
Expected: Inspectors expect to see it, though it isn't a legal requirement.§ SI 2018/952 reg 9 (as substituted by SI 2022/1097 reg 4)
Show 2 more from this source
4 If, following the assessment, a public sector body determines that compliance with the accessibility requirement would impose a disproportionate burden, it must— a explain in its accessibility statement the parts of the accessibility requirement that could not be complied with; and b where appropriate, provide accessible alternatives to documents held by that public sector body that are not available on their website or mobile application.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ SI 2018/952 reg 7(4)
4 The accessibility statement must include— a an explanation of those parts of the content that are not accessible and the reasons why; b where appropriate, a description of any accessible alternatives provided; c a description of, and a link to, a contact form which enables a person to— i notify the public sector body of any failure of its website or mobile application to comply with the accessibility requirement; and ii request details of the information excluded under regulation 4(2) and regulation 7(4); and d a link to the enforcement procedure set out in Part 5 of these Regulations to which recourse may be had in the event of an unsatisfactory response to the notification or the request.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ SI 2018/952 reg 8(4)(a)-(d)
Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies
The accessibility regulations came into force for public sector bodies on 23 September 2018. They say you must make your website or mobile app more accessible by making it ‘perceivable, operable, understandable and robust’. You need to include and update an accessibility statement on your website.
Must: Required by law, statutory guidance or the academy's funding agreement.§ GDS guidance, section 'Meeting accessibility requirements'
Your website or mobile app will meet the legal requirements if you: – meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA accessibility standard – although there may be valid legal reasons for not meeting accessibility standards – publish an accessibility statement that explains how accessible your website or mobile app is
Expected: Inspectors expect to see it, though it isn't a legal requirement.§ GDS guidance, section 'Meeting accessibility requirements' (bullet list)
Questions schools ask
Do school websites have to be accessible?
Academies and maintained schools must.
What does WCAG 2.2 AA mean for a school website?
Makes the website perceivable, operable, understandable and robust; Meets the WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standard.
How often do we need to check our website's accessibility?
Keep it up to date. There's no fixed date. Update it whenever something changes.
Where does the requirement for the website accessibility come from?
It is set out in Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 (SI 2018/952) and Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies.
Recent changes to the official guidance
Updates to the official sources that affect this requirement, newest first.
5 October 2023 · Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies
Updated guidance as result of the new success criteria in WCAG 2.2.
18 February 2020 · Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies
We removed dates which have already passed. We updated the section on exemptions to make things clear about partial exemption for primary and secondary schools and nurseries. More detail on intranets and extranets.
5 February 2019 · Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies
Clarification of the deadlines for making PDFs accessible.
We last checked these sources on 21 September 2026.
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Official wording that does not apply to schools (1)
2 These Regulations do not apply to the following content of a website or mobile application of a public sector body— a office file formats published before 23rd September 2018, unless such content is needed for active administrative processes relating to the tasks performed by the public sector body; b pre-recorded time-based media published before 23rd September 2020; c live time-based media; d online maps and mapping services, as long as essential information is provided in an accessible digital manner for maps intended for navigational use; e third-party content that is neither funded nor developed by, nor under the control of, the public sector body; f reproductions of items in heritage collections that cannot be made fully accessible because of either— i the incompatibility of the accessibility requirement with either the preservation of the item concerned or the authenticity of the reproduction; or ii the unavailability of automated and cost-efficient solutions that would easily extract the text of manuscripts or other items in heritage collections and transform it into content compatible with the accessibility requirement; g content of extranets and intranets published before 23rd September 2019, until such websites undergo a substantial revision; and h content of websites and mobile applications qualifying as archives.
Official sources last checked 21 September 2026 · register version 1.0.4