Disability legislation

Many countries have some form of disability legislation. Here, I will just mention the ones that are most likely to affect the UK and the Civil Service.

United Kingdom

Equality Act (2010)

The Equality Act aims to prevent people with 9 protected characteristics from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. The protected characteristics are:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion or belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations (2018)

We often abbreviate the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations to PSBAR. This legislation covers the websites and mobile applications of a Public Sector Body, such as a Government department or Local Authority. PSBAR has two main requirements:

• Conformance to the published version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to AA level
• Publication of an accessibility statement.

Europe

European Accessibility Act (EAA)

The European Accessibility Act was passed in June 2025. It aims to improve the accessibility of a range of products and services that are marketed in the EU. It includes a wide range of digital products and services that disabled people may use. It includes computers and mobile devices, as well as transport services, telecommunications and eCommerce.

Although the UK is no longer in the EU, I hope that stronger accessibility legislation in Europe will benefit all countries as time goes on.

EN 301 549

EN 301 549 has been in place since 2014. Initially, it covered public sector websites. This was enforced since 2018. Then public sector mobile applications were brought in scope in 2021. More recently, private sector came in scope, with the EAA, in 2025.

EN 301 549 sets out the how of digital accessibility. This includes conformance to WCAG 2.1 to AA level. This is one version behind the UK requirement.