If you build websites for UK businesses, sooner or later a client asks: "Do we legally have to make the site accessible?" The short answer: the Equality Act 2010 applies to anyone providing services to the public in England, Scotland and Wales, of any size. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) names websites and internet services as one of the areas where providers must avoid discrimination and make reasonable adjustments.

The Act doesn't name a technical standard. In practice the benchmark everyone works to is WCAG 2.2 Level AA , the level the UK public sector has to meet. This post turns that into things you can check in code and in a browser. (It's general information, not legal advice.)

The legal bit, in developer terms

Three points matter for the work you ship:

The duty is anticipatory. A business can't wait for a disabled customer to complain. It has to think ahead about what people with a range of impairments might need.…