What is Accessibility statement?

What an honest statement contains

• The standard and level targeted, normally WCAG 2.2 AA
• Current conformance status — fully, partially, or not conformant
• Known issues, named specifically rather than gestured at
• A contact route for reporting a barrier, and a response commitment
• The date of the last assessment and how it was carried out

Why partial conformance is the credible answer

Very few sites are fully conformant, and claiming to be invites the first counter-example. Naming the specific gaps, with a date for addressing them, is both more accurate and more persuasive — it demonstrates that someone actually tested rather than ran a scanner once.

The legal position outside the public sector

The UK Equality Act, the EU Accessibility Act and equivalents elsewhere require reasonable adjustment for disabled users, which reaches commercial sites regardless of whether a statement is mandatory. A statement is evidence of intent, not a substitute for the work.

Where this is covered in depth

A definition can only go so far. The 35 types of SEO, explained without the padding covers this properly — 6 minutes, free, no email required.

Who wrote this

Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan. These definitions come from client work rather than from a content brief — where an entry describes a mistake, it is usually one found on a real site. More about how I work.