Methods & checklists
How to write an accessibility statement (with the structure regulators expect)
Why this page exists
Several regimes require or expect a published accessibility statement — UK public-sector rules (PSBAR) mandate one, and EAA-scope services across the EU are expected to document accessibility information. Most businesses either don't have one or publish a marketing paragraph that says "we care about accessibility," which is not a statement. Here is the real structure.
The structure that works
- Scope — which website(s)/app(s) the statement covers, with URLs.
- Conformance claim, honestly stated — the standard and version you measured against (e.g. "WCAG 2.1 Level AA") and your status: fully conformant (rare and hard to defend), partially conformant (the honest norm — some content doesn't yet conform), or not assessed. Never claim "fully conformant" off an automated scan alone.
- Known limitations — the specific things that don't work yet ("PDF invoices before 2024 are not tagged"), ideally with workarounds. This section is what makes the statement credible instead of decorative.
- How it was assessed — self-evaluation or third-party audit, with the date. An undated statement reads as abandoned.
- Feedback channel — how a user reports a barrier, and how long you take to respond. In several regimes this contact route is the legally required part.
- Enforcement route — public-sector statements in the UK/EU must name the body a user can escalate to; check your jurisdiction's exact wording requirements.
The two failure modes
- The overclaim: "This site is fully WCAG compliant." If a user with a screen reader finds one broken flow, that sentence becomes evidence against you.
- The empty gesture: a statement with no date, no known limitations, and no contact — regulators and plaintiffs read it exactly as seriously as it was written.
The honest starting point
Run an audit first — you can't state your conformance status without evidence of what does and doesn't pass. SiteComply's $29 audit gives you the evidence layer (automated WCAG signals, consent posture, links, SEO basics — each finding tied to observed page state); your statement's "known limitations" section can then be written from findings, not hope. Our country guides cover which regimes require a statement in the first place.