What is an accessibility statement and why does it matter legally?
An accessibility statement is a public page on your website that declares your organisation’s commitment to digital accessibility, reports your current conformance level against a recognised standard, identifies known barriers, and tells users how to get help or report problems. It is not optional boilerplate. Under EU Directive 2016/2102, public sector bodies must publish one in a standardised format covering conformance status, non-accessible content, feedback mechanisms, and enforcement contact details.
The European Accessibility Act, which came into force on 28 june 2025, extends mandatory accessibility requirements to consumer-facing digital products and services across the EU. Ireland has transposed these obligations into national law via Statutory Instrument 636/2023. The recognised technical standard underpinning both directives is WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 Level AA, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the W3C.
Every compliant statement must cover:
- A clear commitment to accessibility for people with disabilities
- The standard targeted (WCAG 2.1 or 2.2, Level AA)
- Current conformance status: fully conformant, partially conformant, or non-conformant
- Known limitations and any available workarounds
- A feedback channel with contact details and expected response times
- The date the statement was last reviewed or updated
- Remediation plans and timelines for outstanding issues
Who needs to publish one in Ireland?
Public sector bodies have been legally required to publish accessibility statements since 2018 under the EU Web Accessibility Directive. The European Accessibility Act broadens that obligation considerably. From june 2025, businesses providing consumer-facing digital services and products in Ireland must also comply, unless they qualify for an exemption.
The key exemption covers small enterprises with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover below €2 million. Those businesses are exempt from the EAA’s service accessibility requirements, though they are not exempt from general good practice. B2B-only services fall outside the EAA’s scope, but any public-facing website or app used in service delivery is in scope.
Practically speaking, if you run a museum, tour company, e-commerce shop, or any visitor-facing digital service in Ireland, your website almost certainly requires a published statement. The scope of your statement should reflect exactly which websites, apps, or digital tools it covers.
What must an effective accessibility statement contain?
The seven core elements recommended for a compliant and user-friendly statement are:
- Commitment statement: specific to disability access, not generic corporate language
- Standard targeted: name the version and level, e.g. WCAG 2.2 Level AA
- Conformance status: use the W3C’s own language: fully conformant, partially conformant, or non-conformant
- Known limitations: list specific issues (e.g. “PDF documents published before 2023 lack text alternatives”) with interim workarounds
- Feedback mechanism: at least two contact methods, with a stated response time
- Last updated date: no older than 12 months to remain credible with users and regulators
- Remediation timeline: concrete dates or milestones for fixing known issues
One point worth stressing: organisations that overclaim full compliance expose themselves to greater legal risk than those who honestly declare partial conformance with a clear remediation plan. Regulators and courts both respond better to transparency than to statements that unravel under scrutiny.
How to prepare, publish, and maintain your statement
Start with an audit. You cannot write an honest statement without knowing your actual conformance level. Use automated tools such as axe-core or Lighthouse for a first pass, then follow up with manual testing using screen readers like NVDA or VoiceOver. Document every issue you find.
Write in plain language aimed at the people who will read it when they hit a barrier. Avoid developer jargon. “Videos published before 2022 do not have captions” is far more useful than referencing WCAG criterion 1.2.2 without explanation.
For publishing, place the link in your sitewide footer on every page, using “Accessibility” or “Accessibility Statement” as the link text. Use a predictable URL such as /accessibility or /accessibility-statement. Treat the statement as a living document: review it at least annually, and update it whenever you make significant changes to your site or resolve a known issue.
Pro Tip: Schedule a calendar reminder every six months to re-run your accessibility audit and update the statement date. A statement with a review date over a year old signals to regulators that it has been abandoned.
How to handle feedback, complaints, and enforcement
The feedback mechanism in your statement does two jobs at once: it helps users get the assistance they need, and it gives them an alternative to filing a formal complaint. Provide at least two contact methods, typically an email address and a web form. State a target response time explicitly; two business days is the widely recommended benchmark.
When a user reports an issue, log it, respond promptly, and use it to prioritise your remediation backlog. This process reduces legal exposure and builds genuine trust.
In Ireland, enforcement of the EU Web Accessibility Directive for public sector bodies sits with the National Disability Authority. Under the EAA, sector-specific regulators such as ComReg (for electronic communications services) and the Central Bank of Ireland (for financial services) oversee compliance in their respective areas. Your statement must include the relevant enforcement body’s contact details and explain how users can escalate a complaint if they are not satisfied with your response.
How Egg Design supports accessibility compliance in Ireland
Egg Design brings over 17 years of hands-on experience building bespoke WordPress and WooCommerce websites for Irish organisations, with accessibility and GDPR compliance built into every project from the outset. As an approved vendor under Fáilte Ireland’s Digital That Delivers programme, Egg Design has the credentials and local knowledge to help you meet your obligations under both the EU Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act.
Egg Design’s WCAG compliance services cover full accessibility audits, remediation planning, and statement preparation tailored to Irish law. Whether you need a first-time audit or a review of an existing statement, the team understands how EU directives translate into practical obligations for Irish website owners. You can view a live accessibility statement example on the Egg Design website as a reference point.
If your website needs a professional accessibility audit or you want to build a fully compliant WordPress site from the ground up, Egg Design is the place to start.
Accessibility statement templates for Irish and EU websites
A solid template for an Irish or EU-facing website follows this structure:
[Organisation Name] is committed to making its website accessible in accordance with the EU Web Accessibility Directive (2016/2102) and the European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882), transposed into Irish law by S.I. 636/2023.
Conformance status: This website is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Partially conformant means some content does not yet fully meet the standard.
Known limitations:
- Legacy PDF documents published before [date] do not include text alternatives. We are replacing these by [target date].
- Some older video content lacks captions. New video content published from [date] onwards includes captions.
Feedback and contact: Email [accessibility@yourorganisation.ie] or use our [contact form URL]. We aim to respond within two business days.
Enforcement: If you are not satisfied with our response, contact the [relevant enforcement body] at [contact details].
Last reviewed: [Month, Year]
Adapt the conformance status and known limitations to reflect your actual audit findings. Never copy a template declaring full conformance without having completed a thorough audit first.
How to communicate accessibility information to diverse audiences
Your statement serves people with a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments. Write as though the reader is encountering a barrier right now and needs clear, immediate guidance. That means short sentences, plain vocabulary, and specific instructions rather than vague reassurances.
Structure the statement so the most urgent information comes first: how to get help, then what the known issues are, then the broader compliance context. Users who rely on screen readers will navigate by headings, so use descriptive heading text rather than generic labels. Offer the statement itself in alternative formats on request, and make sure the contact form you link to is itself accessible.
For organisations serving multilingual audiences, consider publishing the statement in Irish as well as English, particularly if your site targets Irish-language speakers or receives public funding.
Steps to review and update your statement regularly
Ongoing compliance depends on treating your statement as a live record, not a one-time publication. A practical review cycle looks like this:
- Run an automated scan using a tool such as axe-core or Google Lighthouse after any significant site update.
- Conduct a manual review of key user journeys, particularly checkout flows, forms, and navigation, using keyboard-only navigation and a screen reader.
- Check your known limitations list. Remove issues you have resolved and add any new ones discovered.
- Update the “last reviewed” date every time you make substantive changes, and at minimum once per year.
- Review user feedback received since the last update and incorporate any recurring issues into your remediation plan.
- Confirm enforcement body contact details are still current, as regulatory structures can change.
The W3C’s Accessibility Statement Generator is a free tool that walks you through each field and produces a downloadable draft you can customise.
Where the accessibility statement fits in your broader strategy
An accessibility statement is the visible output of a much larger process. It sits at the end of a compliance roadmap that includes an initial audit, a prioritised remediation plan, staff training, and ongoing monitoring. Publishing the statement without completing that groundwork produces a document that is either inaccurate or legally risky.
Think of the statement as the public-facing summary of your organisation’s accessibility programme. It signals to users, regulators, and procurement teams that accessibility is managed actively rather than acknowledged once and forgotten. For Irish businesses working with public sector clients or applying for grants, a credible, up-to-date statement can also support procurement bids where accessibility compliance is a requirement.
Egg Design’s approach integrates the accessibility statement into the full project lifecycle, from initial design decisions through to post-launch audits, so compliance is built in rather than bolted on.
Tools and resources for verifying your statement’s accuracy
Before publishing or updating your statement, verify your claims with these tools and resources:
| Tool / Resource | What it checks |
|---|---|
| axe-core (browser extension or CI integration) | Automated WCAG violations across pages |
| Google Lighthouse | Accessibility score and specific criterion failures |
| NVDA (Windows screen reader) | Real-world keyboard and screen-reader navigation |
| VoiceOver (macOS/iOS) | Screen-reader behaviour on Apple devices |
| W3C Accessibility Statement Generator | Statement completeness and structure |
| National Disability Authority (Ireland) | Irish-specific guidance and audit resources |
| W3C WAI WCAG 2.2 documentation | Authoritative criterion definitions and techniques |
Automated tools catch roughly 30–40% of WCAG issues on their own; manual testing is not optional. Combine both methods, document your findings, and let those findings drive what you write in your statement. A statement grounded in real audit data is both more accurate and far more defensible if a complaint is ever filed.
For making your website more accessible beyond the statement itself, Egg Design publishes practical guidance covering the most common WCAG failures on Irish websites.