Accessibility by design

Creating accessible digital services is important for all users, not just people with physical disabilities or cognitive impairments.

Anyone using your service can find themselves dealing with a stressful situation, tiredness or illness.

When you start designing a digital service or product, you need to plan for accessibility.

Check the regulations

In the UK, every government digital service for citizens or internal users must:

• meet level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) (opens in a new tab) as a minimum
• work on the most commonly used assistive technologies, including screen magnifiers, screen readers and speech recognition tools
• include people with disabilities in user research

Some services also need an accessibility statement.

Check the guidance on accessibility for public sector bodies (opens in a new tab).

This applies to everyone

Anyone creating digital services or products for Defence, including third-party suppliers, must make sure they meet UK accessibility regulations.

Your role in accessibility

Everyone in a digital design and delivery team plays a part in accessibility.

For Developers to build an accessible service, designs and content need to work with assistive technology. Delivery Managers need to plan time to test with assistive technologies.

Check how you can help with accessibility:

• Content Designers
• Delivery Managers
• Interaction Designers
• Product Managers
• User Researchers

Related guidance

• Making things accessible and inclusive (opens in a new tab)
• Doing the hard work to make accessibility simple (opens in a new tab)
• Common assistive technologies (opens in a new tab)
• GOV.UK blogs on accessibility (opens in a new tab)