How do I write an accessibility statement?

The short version

• Say you’re committed to making the site usable by people with disabilities.
• Name the standard you aim for: WCAG 2.2 Level AA for most businesses.
• Give a phone number and email for reporting problems, and say how fast you’ll reply.
• List the gaps you know about, in plain words, and the date you last checked.
• Link it from the footer of every page. Never claim “fully compliant.”

What should the statement say?

The W3C’s guide to developing an accessibility statement sets a minimum of three things:

1. A commitment to accessibility for people with disabilities.
2. The standard you apply, such as WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
3. Contact details in case people run into problems.

It then suggests adding more where you can:

• Known limitations, written for users. The W3C’s example is “videos do not have captions,” not a WCAG rule number.
• What you do to keep the site accessible, such as testing after changes.
• Technical requirements, like the browsers the site supports.
• How you tested, such as with a keyboard and screen readers.
• Relevant laws, if you want to mention them.

DOJ’s web guidance also encourages giving the public a way to report accessibility problems. A statement is the natural place for it.

A plain example you can adapt

Here’s a sample for a made-up bakery. Replace every detail with your own, and only state what’s true:

Accessibility at Example Bakery

We want everyone to be able to use our website, including people who use a screen reader, keyboard, zoom or captions.

Our goal: we aim to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA.

What we’ve done: we last tested our home, menu, order and contact pages with a keyboard and the VoiceOver and NVDA screen readers on [date].

What we know still needs work: our printed catalog PDF isn’t fully accessible yet. Call us and we’ll read it to you or email the details as text. We expect to replace it by [month].

Tell us about a problem: call [phone] or email [address]. Tell us the page and what you were trying to do. We’ll reply within [number] business days and help you get what you need another way right away.

Last updated: [date]

Use the W3C’s free generator

The W3C’s statement generator builds a statement from a short form. It asks for your organization name, the standard, your contact details, known limitations and more. You download the result and edit it. It’s a solid start, but read every line before you publish and remove anything you can’t back up.

Where should I put it?

The W3C suggests making it easy to find by linking it from places like the footer, a help menu, the sitemap or the About page. Use the same link text everywhere. “Accessibility” is the clearest. A footer link on every page is the simplest choice for a small site. On WordPress, create a page called Accessibility, then add it to your footer menu.

Why does a statement matter?

For a customer who hits a barrier, it’s the difference between giving up and getting help. A working phone number and a promise to respond turn a failed visit into a phone order.

It also keeps you honest internally. Writing down your target, your last test date and your known gaps makes it obvious when the statement has gone stale.

What should I never put in it?

• “Fully compliant” or “100% accessible.” You can’t prove it, and the W3C’s conformance rules are strict: whole pages, whole processes.
• A claim based on an overlay or widget. See whether overlays make a site compliant.
• A contact route nobody checks. An unanswered inbox is worse than none.
• Legal language you don’t understand. Plain words are better. If you want legal wording, ask a lawyer.
• Gaps hidden in jargon. “Some 1.4.3 failures” helps nobody. “Some gray text is hard to read; we’re darkening it by June” helps everyone.

What are the common mistakes and edge cases?

• A copied statement from another company that names tests you never ran.
• No date. Readers can’t tell if it’s current.
• Never updated after a redesign or a fix.
• Third-party tools left out. If your booking or payment provider has known problems, say so and offer another way to book or pay. The W3C calls this a statement of partial conformance.
• A form as the only contact option, when the form itself may be what’s broken. Always include a phone number and an email address.

What if someone reports a problem?

1. Reply quickly and thank them.
2. Help them right away another way: take the order by phone, or email the information as plain text.
3. Ask what happened: the page, the device, and what they were trying to do. Don’t ask for personal details you don’t need.
4. Fix the barrier, then check the same problem on similar pages.
5. Tell them when it’s fixed, and update the statement if it listed that gap.

If the message reads like a legal demand rather than a customer report, see what to do about an ADA demand letter. This isn’t legal advice.

How much does it cost, and how long does it take?

Writing a statement is free and takes about an hour with the W3C’s generator. The real time goes into the testing that makes it honest. Our guide to testing with a keyboard and a screen reader shows how to do that for your key pages.

How does E-3 handle this?

This site has its own accessibility page with our results. For the sites we look after, we can draft a statement from what’s actually been tested. The client decides whether to publish it, as part of website care. We won’t write a claim that can’t be backed up.

Related questions

• Which WCAG level should I aim for?
• How do I test my site with a keyboard and a screen reader?
• What does the ADA Title II web rule require?
• Where do I start with website accessibility?
• Back to the complete website accessibility guide

Sources

1. Developing an accessibility statement (W3C WAI)
2. Accessibility statement generator (W3C WAI)
3. Guidance on web accessibility and the ADA (U.S. Department of Justice, March 18, 2022)
4. Understanding conformance (W3C WAI, WCAG 2.2)