Website Accessibility: What the Equality Act Means for Your Business

The Equality Act 2010 requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people can access their services. Your website is a service. If a visually impaired person cannot navigate it, you are potentially breaking the law.

What “accessible” actually means

Images have text descriptions (alt text). Headings are properly structured (H1, H2, H3 in order). Links are descriptive (“Read our guide” not “Click here”). Colour contrast is sufficient (text is readable). The site works with keyboard navigation. Videos have captions.

Common failures

Images without alt text. Light grey text on white backgrounds. Navigation that only works with a mouse. PDFs that screen readers cannot parse. Captchas that have no audio alternative.

How to check

Use the free WAVE tool (wave.webaim.org) to scan your website. It highlights accessibility issues with visual overlays. Our scanner checks alt text coverage, language declaration, and viewport settings automatically.

Scan your website free now — get your health score in 30 seconds →