A report by disability charity Scope is warning that millions of disabled people could be being blocked from accessing vital online services.
After carrying out accessibility tests on council websites, the charity revealed that 9 out of 10 of England's biggest councils are failing to meet website regulations.
Wednesday 23 September was the legal deadline for public sector websites to meet the regulations which came into force two years ago. These set a legal duty for public sector bodies to make their websites accessible.
But Scope tests undertaken on the brink of the deadline found that of the top 10 biggest counties by population in England, nine accessibility errors. These nine councils serve a combined population of more than 10 million people.
Accessibility issues included confusing layouts, problems enlarging text, poor colour contrasts, difficulties with screen reader accessibility and using keyboard navigation.
DR UK’s Fazilet Hadi said: “Council websites are often vital portals not just for information, but for booking and paying for services. There is simply no excuse for councils to continue to shut disabled people out of their online resources. The law on web accessibility is clear.”
Scope’s The Big Hack project offers advice on web accessibility here: https://www.scope.org.uk/big-hack/