If you work within a regulated industry such as energy, financial services, gambling or the legal sector, it is strongly advisable to ensure that you move towards making your website and digital footprint accessible in line with the WCAG 2.1 guidelines.

Industry regulators and related professional bodies are not necessarily there to police website accessibility and it may not appear to be high on their priority list, but it is increasingly part of either the rules they issue or may be referenced or advised within their guidelines. For web and digital teams within organisations who are pushing to get accessibility higher up in their own organisation’s agenda, any interest from a regulator is good news as companies within an industry will take what a regulator says seriously and prioritise actions accordingly.

However, there is still a lot of progress to make and in practice we hope that more regulators take the front foot when it comes to improving website accessibility across their respective industries.

Why are industry regulators increasingly looking at accessibility? Here are four reasons.

1. It reflects industry-specific legislation

   In some regulated industries website accessibility is already covered in industry-specific legislation. Perhaps the best-known example of this relates to public sector websites covering central and local government as well as higher education. European Union Directive 2016/2102/EU, has created a set of standards for EU public sector bodies and individual countries have followed with their own legislation; this came into force for in the UK on 23 September 2018 and effectively requires all public sector websites to be accessible by September 22^nd 2020. There are other examples such as the US airline industry, where the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) requires a high level of digital accessibility online.

2. Regulators reflect more general legislation

   All organisations need to be making their websites accessible and regulator’s rules and professional guidelines are going to reflect more general legislation such as the American with Disabilities Act and the additional notice provisions relating to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). Industry regulators will want to mirror the general requirements and standards that industry organisations should follow.

3. Sometimes regulators require information to be available for all

   Sometimes a regulator is concerned with the way specific information about products, services, pricing or contracts is presented to customers. Similarly, a regulator may require that specific information or statements are always easily available for customers. In both these cases, website accessibility should be considered a priority to ensure all customers are able to have access.

   For example, the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Rules and Regulations have transparency rules that establish practices around publishing information relating to costs on a solicitor’s website. As well as going into detail on what information should be included, according to rule 1.6:

   Cost information published under this rule must be clear and accessible and in a prominent place on your website.

4. Meeting professional standards and reducing risk

   We also believe that a desire to meet professional standards and also reduce risk may cause more regulators to refer to website accessibility in the future.

   Industry regulators and professional bodies, especially in an area such as professional practices, need to be seen to be meeting high standards and reflect best practices.  Here regulatory rules or guidelines which cover the provision of digital channels and services may include references to accessibility.

   Moreover, regulators are often under pressure from a wide variety of stakeholders to be effective in the sector they are responsible for. A regulator is unlikely to want to expose themselves either to the threat of legal action or a high-profile pressure campaign that suggests they are not doing enough in the sector they work for. With the threat of legal action relating to digital accessibility on the increase, it is possible that a regulator may view a lack of digital accessibility across a sector as a risk issue where they need to be seen to be doing more.

Move towards compliance

All organisations both in regulated and non-regulated industries need to be working towards having an accessible website. If your website is not accessible, it is important to start moving towards compliance as soon as possible – before it becomes a requirement from your regulator.