Need to write an accessibility statement? But, you’re not sure where to start, and you need examples?
You’re in the right place.
An effective accessibility statement is a critical tool for communicating your accessibility efforts to the public, and may even be legally required depending on numerous factors like geography, organization type, and funding sources.
This guide provides everything you need to get it right in 2025. We’ll break down the essential components, provide clear examples, and show you how to avoid common, costly mistakes so you can publish a high-quality accessibility statement with confidence.
Why Have an Accessibility Statement
Before we dive into the “how,” let’s cover the “why.” You might see an accessibility statement as just another legal page for your footer, like a privacy policy or terms of service. It’s much more than that because a well-crafted accessibility statement can actually be traced to specific, measurable outcomes beyond a compliance checkbox.
A Digital Welcome Mat for All
For some people, an accessibility statement is the first place they look to understand if they can successfully use your website. It acts as a guide, telling them:
- What level of accessibility they should expect
- Known limitations and the workarounds available
- How to get help if they encounter a blocker
Think of it this way: A clearly published accessibility statement is a signal to the general public that you are prioritizing these best practices. It builds trust and shows users you value their experience, before they even start navigating your content.
Not having a complete accessibility statement also sends a clear message to users, and that message is that accessibility probably isn’t a priority. And that’s not a message we’d recommend broadcasting.
In Some Cases, It’s a Legal Requirement
Increasingly, having a published accessibility statement is the law, not just a nice-to-have. As digital accessibility regulations become more common globally, transparency is a key component of compliance. Here are two specific examples:
- The EU Accessibility Act (EAA): For businesses offering specific products and services within the EU, the EAA mandates digital accessibility. A core component of this directive, which comes into full effect in June 2025, is the requirement to provide clear, written information on your accessibility compliance. In other words, to comply fully with the EAA directive, a published accessibility statement is essential. Read our ultimate EAA guide to learn more.
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (U.S.): Organizations receiving federal funding are required to make their digital properties accessible. A key part of this is documenting their conformance, which is typically done at least in part through a public-facing accessibility statement. Read more about Section 508 here.
While laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) don’t explicitly require an accessibility statement, regulatory guidance and court rulings have shown that a lack of one may be viewed as a failure to provide sufficient communication around accessibility conformance, and a lack of good-faith effort.
Experts Agree It Can Reduce Risk of Public Complaints and Litigation
In numerous conversations we have had with legal professionals at WordPress Accessibility Meetup and on the Accessibility Craft Podcast, the same idea keeps getting reinforced: A transparent and honest accessibility statement can be your first line of defense against legal action and a preventive measure against embarrassing public complaints. A properly constructed accessibility statement, that’s backed by consistent, measurable, and provable actions to improve accessibility over time, accomplishes two key things:
- You can demonstrate (and prove) good-faith effort. If you can prove that you are aware of your accessibility obligations and are actively working to meet them, you can negotiate from a better position in the event of a lawsuit or complaint. This can save a lot of time, money, and stress, while helping users.
- You open a channel of communication. A complete accessibility statement gives users a direct path to contact you. This allows you to fix barriers before they escalate into embarrassing public complaints or blow-ups that might harm your brand reputation.
There is a major caveat here: Accessibility statements are not a magic legal shield that stops you from being accountable. If you know you’re breaking an accessibility law and aren’t doing much of anything to fix it, the best accessibility statement in the world will not protect you.
Key Accessibility Statement Components
At its core, a well-written accessibility statement is a functional document built on transparent, clear information. While the exact wording will vary depending on numerous factors, every statement should include the four key components outlined in this section. Make sure you include a clear publication date on the statement that indicates when it was last updated.
Current Compliance Status
This is a clear, honest declaration of your commitment and current level of conformance. You should state the specific accessibility standard you are aiming to meet. For most, this will be the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Be specific about the version (e.g. WCAG 2.1 or 2.2) and the conformance level (Level A, AA, or AAA). WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the most widely referenced global standard, and this specific version and level is the one that we see referenced most often across a variety of sources (accessibility statements, public laws, procurement documents, and others). Your statement should then declare your site’s current status, such as “fully conformant,” “partially conformant,” or “non-conformant.”
This section sets clear expectations for users. It immediately tells someone using assistive technology what they can anticipate from your website. It also acts as a public benchmark for your own efforts and is the foundation of your legal good-faith argument. Honesty is crucial. Claiming you are “fully conformant” without doing the work is a surefire way to destroy trust and invite legal scrutiny.
Consult both an accessibility professional, and your attorney before formally deciding which standard to adopt and what level of conformance to report.
Identified Barriers and Plans to Fix Them
No website is perfect. This is where you transparently acknowledge known accessibility issues or areas of your site that do not fully conform to your target standard. For example, you might list “PDF documents are not fully screen-reader accessible” or “videos published before 2021 lack captions.”
Crucially, this can’t be a static list of problems you never intend to fix. Treat this like a roadmap, and plan time to regularly fix issues and update this section of your statement. Outline plans and timelines to fix known issues and provide reasonable workarounds for users currently experiencing a barrier related to that specific issue (e.g., “We are replacing our event ticketing platform with a more accessible alternative on [Specific Date]. In the interim, [Provide Workaround].”).
This is arguably the most important section for building trust. It shows that you have done your due diligence, invested in auditing your own website, and are actively working on improvements. For a user, it provides warnings, manages their expectations, and gives helpful workarounds on major blockers, preventing frustration.
Reliable Contact Method to Get Help
This is your feedback channel where users can get help or file a complaint. You must provide a clear, easy-to-find method to contact you in the accessibility statement. Provide a dedicated email address (like accessibility@yourcompany.com), a unique issue report or help request form, and/or a phone number they can call. If you can, offer multiple methods and if you are using a web form as one of the methods, make sure the web form meets accessibility standards. Make sure that the contact methods you provide are being monitored, and that they will get a timely response.
Done correctly, this has the potential to turn your website’s users into your allies. It gives them a direct path to report issues you may have missed and while this does not replace investing in good accessibility scanning software and a professional accessibility audit, it is an excellent risk management layer to add. Providing an internal channel for complaints allows you to address and resolve a user’s problem before it escalates into a public complaint, negative review, PR disaster, or worse.
Enforcement Pathways and Methods to Escalate Complaints
This section explains what steps a user can take if they are not satisfied with your initial response to their accessibility complaint. For example, it might inform them of their right to escalate the issue to an external body (like a specific government agency), if such a legal right exists in your jurisdiction.
Under regulations like the European Accessibility Act (EAA), having this sort of information contained in the accessibility statement is an explicit requirement. While it may seem odd to direct users on how to file a formal complaint against you, it is a key part of regulatory compliance and shows your organization is operating transparently and in good faith under the law.
If there is no legal requirement in your area to offer an enforcement pathway, this section could be pivoted to a more formal internal process where the user can appeal the initial response to their complaint, and ask for it to be reviewed or escalated to your leadership team. This gives your team another chance to help the solve the user’s issue.
Additional Considerations
Provided the information is readily available to you and accurate, consider including the following additional details in your accessibility statement, where appropriate:
- Technical Specifications and Compatibility: Details the specific technical environment in which your website is intended to perform best. It typically lists the operating systems, web browsers, and specific assistive technologies that you have tested your site with. If someone using an older browser or a less common assistive technology encounters a problem, this section helps them understand why. It manages expectations and can help troubleshoot issues.
- Specific Measures Taken to Support Accessibility: This is where you go beyond your compliance status to describe the proactive steps your organization takes to embed accessibility into its culture and processes. This narrative is powerful for building brand reputation and demonstrating a mature, good-faith effort to be inclusive.
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Accessibility Statement Example
[YOUR COMPANY NAME] is committed to providing a fully accessible website experience for all users of all abilities, including those who rely on assistive technologies like screen readers, screen enlargement software, and alternative keyboard input devices to navigate the web.
Ongoing Efforts to Ensure Accessibility
We follow [ SPECIFIC STANDARD, VERSION, LEVEL ] as our guiding principle for determining accessibility. These are internationally agreed-upon standards that cover a wide range of recommendations and best practices for making content useable. As we add new pages and functionality to our website, all designs, code, and content entry practices are checked against these standards.
Website accessibility is an ongoing process. We continually test content and features, and remediate any accessibility issues to ensure we meet or exceed the standards. Testing of our website is performed by our team members using industry-standard tools, color contrast analyzers, keyboard-only navigation techniques, and readability tests.
Accessibility Features On Our Website
The following is a list of items we have included in our website to improve its accessibility:
- [LIST ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES HERE]
Where We’re Improving
In our efforts to bring our website up to standard, we are targeting the following areas:
- [LIST ITEMS YOU’RE WORKING TO FIX HERE]
This is part of our broader effort to make everyone’s experience at [COMPANY NAME] a welcoming and enjoyable one. Please note that while we make every effort to provide information accessible for all users, we cannot guarantee the accessibility of third party websites to which we may link.
Accessibility Support Contact
We welcome comments, questions, and feedback on our website. If you are using assistive technologies and are having difficulty using our website, please email [YOUR ACCESSIBILITY EMAIL ADDRESS] or give us a call at [YOUR PHONE NUMBER]. We will do our best to assist you and resolve issues.
Formal Complaints
If you have contacted us for accessibility support and did not receive a satisfactory response, you may [SUMMARIZE FORMAL METHOD THEY CAN REPORT TO AN OFFICIAL AUTHORITY OR APPEAL SUPPORT DECISION WITH YOUR COMPANY]. You can contact [OFFICIAL ENFORCEMENT OFFICE OR INTERNAL APPEALS CONTACT] by [CONTACT INFORMATION OR INSTRUCTIONS].
Disclaimer: This template is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is intended to serve as a starting point, not as a finished legal document. You are free to copy, modify and publish this template for use on your own website. However, you do so at your own risk. An accessibility statement is a public declaration about the status of your specific digital property. The accuracy of the final, published statement is your sole responsibility. Publishing a statement that contains false or misleading information can significantly increase your legal liability.
Common Accessibility Statement Mistakes to Watch For
Steering clear of these common pitfalls will ensure your statement is helpful, transparent, and genuinely serves its purpose.
Misrepresenting Your Conformance Status
Publishing a statement that makes false or unverified claims often happens when an organization copies a template declaring “full conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA” without ever having performed a sufficiently thorough audit to validate that claim. Whether intentional or simply negligent, for a user with a disability, this oversight creates immense frustration. They read your statement, trust its promise, and then waste valuable time trying to navigate a site that is, in reality, filled with barriers. In the event of a lawsuit, a plaintiff can use your own false statement against you as evidence of bad faith, making your legal position significantly worse.
Providing an Inaccessible Feedback Method
Your accessibility statement directs users to a contact form to submit complaints, which seems great on the surface. The irony? That contact form itself might be inaccessible. It might lack proper field labels for screen readers, rely on a purely visual CAPTCHA, or have a keyboard trap that prevents users from navigating away from it. You have effectively put a locked door in front of the help desk. It creates a dead end for someone who is already struggling, and you lose out on valuable feedback that could help you identify and fix problems. Finally, the user is left with no other choice but to give up. Or worse, they’ll take their complaint public.
Writing a Purely Defensive Accessibility Statement
Your statement reads less like a helpful guide for users and more like a contrived legal shield. It’s filled with jargon, disclaimers, and language designed to sidestep responsibility (e.g., “we make no warranties as to the accessibility of our content,” or “accessibility features, if any, are provided ‘as is'”). Its primary goal is not to help users, but to drive off the types of users it considers “problematic” because of the assistive technology they use to browse the web. Ironically, this strategy fails as a legal defense. A statement that demonstrates no real commitment or action can be interpreted as evidence that you are aware of your obligations but are actively trying to avoid them. True risk reduction comes from transparency and a genuine commitment to improvement.
Let Accessibility Checker Add Your Accessibility Statement
You now have the blueprint for an effective and trustworthy accessibility statement. But we know that moving from theory to a published page can be the biggest hurdle.
We decided to make accessibility statements simple, with Accessibility Checker.
The moment you install Accessibility Checker, it automatically creates a new, unpublished draft page on your website. This page is pre-populated with our accessibility statement template.
All you have to do is review the text, fill in your organization’s specific details, and hit “Publish” when you feel you’re ready.
Struggling to add an accessibility statement link to your footer?
We’ve solved that, too. Inside the Accessibility Checker settings, you’ll find a simple option to automatically add your accessibility statement link to your website’s footer. Just check the box, and we handle the rest.
