Kept Record

The Equality Act 2010: a duty on every service provider in Britain, with no technical standard in the Act, and separate regulations for the public sector.

In Great Britain a business that provides a service to the public, online or not, must not discriminate because of disability and must make reasonable adjustments. The Act names no web standard; the statutory code says websites are services. Public bodies have their own regulations that do name WCAG.

Who it applies to

Anyone who provides a service to the public, or to a section of the public, for payment or not, must not discriminate against a person who wants the service.

(for payment or not) must not discriminate against a person requiring the service Equality Act 2010, section 29(1), revised text, 14 August 2026.

The duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to a service provider.

A duty to make reasonable adjustments applies to Equality Act 2010, section 29(7), revised text, 14 August 2026.

The Act never uses the words website or internet. The statutory code of practice on services, which courts must take into account, says that websites provide access to services and may be a service in themselves.

Websites provide access to services and goods, and may in themselves constitute a service EHRC Services, Public Functions and Associations Code of Practice, paragraph 11.8, 26 January 2011.

That code is statutory: it was issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and brought into force by order of Parliament.

on 26th January 2011 the Commission issued the codes of practice SI 2011/857, preamble, 17 March 2011.

Disability under the Act is a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

substantial and long-term adverse effect on P's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities Equality Act 2010, section 6(1), revised text, 14 August 2026.

What it requires

The duty is anticipatory: a service provider must think about disabled people in general before any particular customer is turned away, and must take reasonable steps in advance.

Where a way of doing things puts a disabled person at a substantial disadvantage, the provider must take such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage.

such steps as it is reasonable to have to take to avoid the disadvantage Equality Act 2010, section 20(3), revised text, 14 August 2026.

For services, the adjustment may include providing the service in a reasonable alternative way.

to adopt a reasonable alternative method of providing the service Equality Act 2010, Schedule 2, paragraph 2(3)(b), revised text, 14 August 2026.

Who enforces it

A person who has been discriminated against brings a claim in the county court in England and Wales, or before the sheriff in Scotland.

The county court or, in Scotland, the sheriff has jurisdiction to determine a claim Equality Act 2010, section 114(1), revised text, 14 August 2026.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission may investigate whether a person has committed an unlawful act.

The Commission may investigate whether or not a person Equality Act 2006, section 20(1), revised text, read 16 September 2026.

The Commission may also apply to the county court for an injunction to stop an unlawful act.

to the county court for an injunction restraining the person from committing the act Equality Act 2006, section 24(1), revised text, read 16 September 2026.

Penalties

There is no fine under the Equality Act for a private business. What there is, is a claim by a person, with damages.

A court may award damages, and the damages may include compensation for injured feelings.

An award of damages may include compensation for injured feelings Equality Act 2010, section 119(4), revised text, 14 August 2026.

Exemptions

There is no exemption by size. The duty is on every service provider, and what is reasonable for a small business may be less than what is reasonable for a large one, but the duty itself does not lift.

The public sector regulations

Public bodies have a second, more specific law. It does not apply to private businesses.

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 apply to the websites and apps of public sector bodies.

These Regulations apply to a website or mobile application of a public sector body SI 2018/952, regulation 4(1), revised text, 3 June 2025.

A site is presumed to meet the regulations if it meets WCAG at Levels A and AA, as amended from time to time. Since October 2022 the regulations no longer name EN 301 549.

Level A and AA Success Criteria as set out in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines SI 2018/952, regulation 9, as amended, revised text, 3 June 2025.

The government's guidance names WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the standard.

level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 GOV.UK, public sector accessibility monitoring guidance, updated 30 September 2024.

A public body must publish an accessibility statement in the form of the government's model statement.

must provide an accessibility statement in accordance with the model accessibility statement SI 2018/952, regulation 8(1), revised text, 3 June 2025.

The Secretary of State monitors public bodies' compliance with the regulations. Since June 2025 that is the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

The Secretary of State must monitor the compliance by public sector bodies SI 2018/952, regulation 10(1), revised text, 3 June 2025.

A public body's failure to meet the regulations is treated as a failure to make a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act, enforced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Great Britain.

is to be treated as a failure to make a reasonable adjustment SI 2018/952, regulation 12(1), revised text, 3 June 2025.

Every public sector body must meet the regulations unless it is exempt; private businesses are not covered.

All public sector bodies have to meet the requirements, unless they are exempt. GOV.UK, accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps, updated 30 September 2024.

What meeting it looks like in practice

For a private business in Britain there is no standard to certify against and no authority to file with. There is a duty that a customer can enforce in court, and a statutory code that says the duty covers websites. In practice, meeting WCAG at Level AA is how a business shows it took reasonable steps, and a record of what it checked and when is how it shows it thought ahead. For a public body, the regulations name the standard, require a published statement in a set form, and are monitored centrally.

Sources

Every source on this page was fetched and its quotation confirmed on 18 September 2026, today. That date is written by the script that checked, not by a person.

A directive binds member states, who write it into national law. The national act can name a different authority, set a different penalty, or add duties. The sources here are the directive and three national acts; yours may differ.

Nothing on this page is about a product. The record a business keeps of its own site is its own affair, and no tool makes a site meet a law.

This page describes the law as it is written in the sources cited. It is not legal advice, it does not cover every case, and national law can add to what a directive requires. It has not been reviewed by a lawyer.

This page describes what the system does, written by the people who built it. It has not yet been reviewed by a lawyer, and it will be before anything on this site can be bought.