Website Accessibility In 2025

By Gavin Kilgallon on Wednesday, 23 July 2025

The internet plays a significant role in the lives of many people, enabling them to access information, manage their personal finances, make purchases, educate themselves, communicate with businesses, view government data, and participate in education, as well as thousands of other activities. These resources must be accessible to everyone. In this article, we will discuss website accessibility, various global regulations, and anticipated future trends and challenges.

What Is Website Accessibility

Accessibility in web design involves creating a website experience that everyone can access, regardless of their disabilities. This includes individuals with visual or hearing impairments, motor difficulties, and other disabilities. Accessible websites are designed to be inclusive and usable by all. To promote and enhance accessibility, governments worldwide have implemented regulations to ensure websites comply with minimum standards.

The Benefits Of Web Accessibility

Accessibility offers numerous advantages, not only for the end user but also for the website owner. Below are some of the key benefits:

Access for more users: Enables hundreds of millions of extra people to access websites that would otherwise be useless to them. This is especially crucial for sectors such as health, government, and education. It also benefits website owners by significantly expanding their market reach.
Improved UX: Offers a significantly enhanced user experience with features such as faster loading, text-to-speech functionality, and adjustable font sizes.
Economic benefits: Opens up employment opportunities, reducing unemployment and benefiting businesses seeking staff.
Improved independence: Enables individuals to perform actions that would otherwise be impossible without third-party assistance.
Brand Prestige: Businesses that actively adopt accessibility practices can help enhance their brand reputation and credibility.

Accessibility Laws

Below, we will briefly examine laws and regulations worldwide, focusing on key rules that ensure digital platforms are accessible to everyone.

European Union

EU Directive 2016/2102: Dictates that all public sector websites must adhere to WCAG 2.1.
European Accessibility Act (EAA): Effective from 2025, digital service providers such as eCommerce websites must also adhere to WCAG.

United Kingdom

Accessibility under the Equality Act: This legislation prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, including on websites.
Public sector website compliance: The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 stipulate that all public sector websites must adhere to the WCAG 2.1 AA standard.

Australia

DDA and its application to digital accessibility: Prohibits discrimination and mandates accessibility to digital services, using WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard to be met.
Australian Human Rights Commission guidelines: No regulation, but encourages good web accessibility practices.

United States

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements: Unlawful to discriminate against any individual with a disability; public services and businesses are required to provide reasonable digital accessibility.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Requires Federal agency websites to adhere to WCAG 2.0 AA standards.

Canada

Accessible Canada Act (ACA) requirements: Federally regulated businesses must provide accessible content and adhere to WCAG 2.1.
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA): Employers with 50 or more staff members are required to comply with WCAG 2.0 AA in Ontario.

India

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPWD), 2016: Encourages equal access to online services, aligning with WCAG standards.
Guidelines for Indian Government Websites: All government websites must comply with WCAG 2.0 AA.

Japan

Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities: Whilst there is no absolute mandate, it encourages good accessibility practices.
Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) X 8341-3: Provides guidelines for web accessibility, ensuring digital content is usable by people with disabilities, focusing on technical standards for design and functionality.

International Standards

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), created the WCAG, which will soon progress to 2.2.
ISO/IEC 40500:2012: Another international standard that promotes websites designed for users with disabilities.

Challenges To Compliance

As one of London’s most established web agencies, we've found that the main obstacle isn't resistance but rather a lack of awareness and understanding of the importance of building websites that cater to everyone. Here are some additional challenges organisations and web agencies face:

Many website owners hesitate to change their website aesthetics to improve accessibility because they think it reduces its appeal. For instance, colour schemes might need to be more subdued, or navigation adjusted.
Dynamic content that many websites include can be challenging to ensure compliance with accessibility standards.
Many website developers lack the technical training, skills and knowledge to create compliant websites.
Many older websites were built without considering accessibility, and they are often designed in a way that cannot be easily altered.
Millions of websites rely on third-party tools for their operations, but many of these may not meet WCAG guidelines.
Budget constraints may restrict the necessary resources required to build a compliant website.
Many businesses are unsure of the laws and what is required of them.
As new regulations and practices come into effect, businesses might not be aware of or have the time to implement the necessary changes.

Future Trends in Accessibility Legislation

We believe digital inclusivity will keep growing through self-regulation and lawful regulation. Below, we have given some insights into what we think the future holds:

AI-powered accessibility to help automate and test websites.
An increase in international rules and regulations.
Stricter enforcement and fines for non-compliance.
Increased business focus on delivering accessible websites.
Improved technologies to help further enhance accessibility and inclusivity.
Third-party tools will become more responsible and prioritise accessibility in their development.

Summary

Making your website accessible to all users is not just a legal requirement, it's an opportunity to create an inclusive digital experience for everyone. At ID Studio, we are ready to help you apply accessibility best practices with solutions that suit your business. Get in touch today to find out how we can support you.