Charity Website Accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA): A UK Charity Guide for 2026

WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the standard required for the UK public sector and the practical accessibility baseline for UK charities. The Equality Act 2010 obliges charities to make reasonable adjustments, and accessibility forms part of that duty. Most charities can implement 12 key changes within a week, mostly at no cost, covering common barriers for older adults, disabled people and those with English as an additional language. A statutory accessibility statement is also expected and should already be in place.

Why this matters

UK charities work with the people most likely to face accessibility barriers — older adults, people with disabilities, mental health service users, refugees with English as an additional language. If your website excludes them, you’re failing your beneficiaries.

There’s also a regulatory dimension. The Equality Act 2010 requires charities to make reasonable adjustments. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 cover charities receiving public money.

WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the standard you should aim for. It’s not perfect — but it’s the practical baseline.

What WCAG 2.1 Level AA actually requires

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is structured around four principles:

Perceivable — content must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive
Operable — interface components must be operable
Understandable — content and operation must be understandable
Robust — content must work with assistive technologies

Each principle has guidelines. Each guideline has success criteria. WCAG 2.1 Level AA includes 50 success criteria. Not all are relevant to every page, but most apply.

For most UK charity sites, the practical priorities are:

  1. Colour contrast — text vs background contrast ratio at least 4.5:1 for normal text
  2. Keyboard navigation — every interactive element accessible via Tab key
  3. Focus indicators — visible outline when an element is focused
  4. Image alt text — every meaningful image has descriptive alt text
  5. Form labels — every input has an associated label
  6. Heading structure — proper h1, h2, h3 hierarchy
  7. Link text — descriptive (not “click here”)
  8. Language declared — <html lang="en"> or relevant
  9. Page titles — unique, descriptive titles
  10. Text resize — pages work when zoomed to 200%
  11. No flashing content — nothing flashes more than 3 times per second
  12. Skip-to-content — bypass link for keyboard users

The 12 quick wins

Most UK charities can implement all of these in 1-2 days. Mostly free.

1. Run an automated scan

Use WAVE — paste your URL, scan, fix the obvious errors. Free.

2. Check colour contrast

Use WebAIM Contrast Checker. Critical for body text and links. Many “stylish” colour combinations fail.

3. Add alt text to every meaningful image

For decorative images, use empty alt (alt=""). For meaningful images, write what the image conveys, not what it depicts.

4. Audit your headings

Pages should have one h1, then h2s, then h3s. Don’t skip levels. Don’t use bold text instead of headings.

5. Make link text descriptive

Bad: “click here”, “read more”. Good: “Read our reserves policy”, “Apply to The Fore”.

6. Test keyboard-only

Unplug your mouse. Try to navigate your site using only Tab, Shift-Tab, Enter, Space. If you can’t reach a link or button, fix it.

7. Check focus indicators

When you Tab through, can you see which element is focused? Default browser focus rings are often hidden by stylesheets. Bring them back.

8. Add a skip-to-content link

Lets keyboard users skip the navigation and jump to the main content. Short HTML snippet.

9. Set page language

<html lang="en"> (or whatever applies). Helps screen readers pronounce correctly.

10. Set descriptive page titles

Every page should have a unique <title> that describes the content. Most CMS systems do this; check yours.

11. Forms with labels

Every input field needs a <label>. Placeholders are not labels.

12. Add a statutory accessibility statement

Required if you’re a public sector body or receiving public money. Best practice for all charities. See template below.

Free template — Accessibility Statement

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT — [CHARITY NAME]
Last reviewed: [date]

[Charity name] is committed to making our website usable by everyone, 
including users of assistive technology.

We aim to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 
Level AA — the standard required for UK public sector bodies.

WHAT WORKS WELL
- Semantic HTML throughout — proper headings, landmarks, lists
- Skip-to-content link on every page
- Keyboard navigation supported for all interactive elements
- Visible focus indicators
- Colour contrast meets AA on body text and UI elements
- Text resizing works without breaking layout
- Forms have associated labels
- Images have meaningful alt text where they convey information

KNOWN LIMITATIONS
[List specific areas where you fall short — e.g., older PDFs, video 
content without captions, third-party embedded content]

We are working to address these. Estimated timeline: [date].

REPORTING ACCESSIBILITY PROBLEMS
If something on the site isn't accessible, please email 
[accessibility@yourcharity.org.uk] with:
- The page or feature affected
- What didn't work
- Your browser and assistive technology

We aim to acknowledge accessibility reports within 2 working days 
and to fix critical issues within 10 working days.

ENFORCEMENT
If you're unhappy with our response, you can contact the UK Equality 
and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) under the Equality Act 2010.

POLICY OWNER: [name]
NEXT REVIEW: [date]

From CharityIQ. Our website was built to WCAG 2.1 AA from day one — semantic HTML, skip-links, contrast-checked colours. Charity websites we build for customers inherit this foundation. See more →

Common mistakes

1. Image-only content. Posters with text in them, infographics, screenshots of policies. Screen readers can’t read these. Either provide text alternatives or use real text.

2. PDF as the primary format. PDFs are notoriously hard to make accessible. Use HTML where possible.

3. Auto-playing video or carousels. Trigger motion sickness; can’t be paused easily by some users. Avoid or make pause controls obvious.

4. Light grey body text. Looks “stylish”; fails contrast. WCAG requires 4.5:1 for normal text.

5. No accessibility statement. Best practice (and statutory for some).

What to do this week

  1. Run WAVE on your homepage and 2-3 other key pages — fix the easiest errors immediately
  2. Add or update an accessibility statement based on the template above
  3. Check colour contrast on body text and CTAs — fix any that fail
  4. Test keyboard navigation on key user flows (donate, contact, signup)

Accessibility built into your charity’s web tools. Start a free 14-day CharityIQ trial. Start free trial →

Frequently asked questions

Charities must comply with the Equality Act 2010, which requires reasonable adjustments. Charities receiving public money are also subject to PSBAR 2018. Even where not explicitly required, accessibility is a moral baseline.

WCAG has three conformance levels (A, AA, AAA). AAA is aspirational and rarely fully achievable; AA is the practical target.

If they’re substantive content. A scanned image of a poster as a PDF is not accessible.

Free tools include NVDA (Windows, free), VoiceOver (built into macOS and iOS), TalkBack (Android). Test critical user flows.

Most modern CMS platforms (WordPress, Drupal) support WCAG when configured properly. The bottleneck is usually theme choice and content practices, not the platform.