With all public sector websites needing to be compliant with European standard EN 301 549 V1.1.2 (2015-04) by 22 September 2020; we look at the progress UK Government and Public Bodies are making in ensuring their websites are accessible to people with disabilities.

At Sitemorse we published our 2020 Q3 UK Government and Public Bodies INDEX this week.

The INDEX has been published quarterly since 2006 and ranks the websites of nearly 300 Government and Public Bodies for digital compliance, based on User Experience, Search Engine Optimisation and Governance, Risk and Compliance.

The Q3 INDEX was compiled following over 230 million tests, checks and measures across over 720,000 URLs.

Congratulations to the Office for Students for taking first place and to HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate for being the most improved, rising an impressive 221 places up the table.

Since Q2, 28 organisations have improved the accessibility of their website, whilst 29 have seen it decline.

No organisations passed the WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA tests on 100% of their web pages and 11 organisations failed the level A and AA tests on every page. 

European Union Directive 2016/2102/EU, creating a set of standards for EU public sector bodies, using European standard EN 301 549 V1.1.2 (2015-04), was approved on October 26, 2016. It came into force for in the UK on 23 September 2018. The aim of the regulations is to ensure public sector websites and mobile apps can be used by as many people as possible.

This includes those with:

• impaired vision
• motor difficulties
• cognitive impairments or learning disabilities
• deafness or impaired hearing

New public sector websites have needed to be compliant since 22 September this year, all other public sector websites need to be compliant by 22 September 2020.

If we focus on accessibility, 2 organisations; NHS Digital and the Royal Air Force Museum scored highest, with 9 (out of 10) - they should be congratulated for taking the lead in this sector on accessibility.

As for the rest of the organisations in the INDEX:

• 33% of organisations scored 5 or 6 (out of 10) for accessibility
• 34% of organisations scored between 1 and 4 (out of 10) for accessibility
• 28% of organisations scored zero for accessibility

In the event of 2 organisations being tied then the organisation who scored higher in the previous quarter’s INDEX is ranked higher.

Top ten websites

1. Office for Students
2. Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists
3. Independent Commission on Civil Aviation Noise
4. NHS Digital
5. National Museums Liverpool
6. Office for Nuclear Regulation
7. Civil Service Commission
8. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
9. The Pensions Ombudsman
10. National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) Corporation

Five Most improved websites

• HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate
• Royal Air Force Museum
• HM Inspectorate of Probation
• National Museums Liverpool
• The Scottish Government

The full UK Government and Public Bodies Q3 2020 results can be found here: Sitemorse UK Government and Public Bodies INDEX