Digital Accessibility Regulations

This section of the toolkit is focused on the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 which we normally refer to as PSBAR. In this section you will find information on the scope of the regulations, exemptions, accessibility statements, disproportionate burden, the monitoring and enforcement process and much more.

Introduction to PSBAR

The regulations are a complicated topic with an interesting history. To get an overview of what the regulations are and what they do, read this article.

PSBAR Scope

The scope of the regulations is broad and has many complex areas that must be navigated including exemptions, 3rd party content, web and native apps, documents, intranets and Virtual Learning Environments among other things.

Accessibility Statements

Accessibility statements are a new requirement under PSBAR and all public sector websites must have one. The Government Digital Service (GDS) is very specific on the legally required content of these statements. Find out how to write a compliant statement in this article and check out some of our world renowned research on accessibility statements across the UK.

Disproportionate Burden

Disproportionate burden is one of the commonly used clauses in the regulations as well as one of the least well understood by those who use it. Get some advice on conducting your disproportionate burden assessments and read our highly commended research on the subject in this article.

Monitoring & Enforcement

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is responsible for the monitoring of the regulations, while the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) are responsible for the enforcement. Read about their processes in this article.

Timelines

The timelines for the regulations are useful to understand as different content has to be compliant by different dates. Find out more about the timelines for different content in this article.

Accessibility & Copyright

PSBAR has caused some difficult questions for many in the overlap of accessibility laws and copyright laws. Read more about this in this article.