New website accessibility regulations resources 

It is important that everyone can easily access information provided by local (town and parish) councils online, including those with disabilities. According to Scope, the disability equality charity in England and Wales, there are 13.9 million disabled people in the UK.

Public sector bodies, including local councils, are being required to comply with the website accessibility regulations, introduced last year. A range of new resources have been created, to support local councils with preparations. 

The National Association of Local Councils (NALC) has created presentation slides , which provide a brief summary of the regulations and some actions to help local councils in their preparations. These have been shared with county associations for information and training purposes. 

Public sector websites, which were published before 23 September 2018, will need to be compliant by 23 September 2020. All public sector mobile applications will need to be compliant by 23 June 2021. As developments arise, NALC will provide more information on website accessibility.

The Government Digital Service recently published guidance for smaller organisations doing a basic accessibility check.