In line with the Web accessibility action plan, all external and internal websites, web applications and mobile apps owned by the European Commission need to have an up-to-date accessibility statement.
An accessibility statement is an essential instrument to inform users about the accessibility status of your website.
Having an accessibility statement is important because it:
- proves to your users that you care about accessibility and about them,
- provides up-to-date information about the accessibility level of the website content,
- demonstrates a legal commitment to accessibility and social responsibility.
New websites or apps cannot be published without an accessibility statement. So, even if the accessibility status is unknown, the statement needs to be there (informing users that the accessibility testing is planned or in progress). A website that is not fully accessible or that has still not been tested for accessibility should nevertheless have an accessibility statement.
The responsibility for publishing, reviewing and maintaining the accessibility statement is with the site owner.
The statement should follow the same language policy as the website. If the site is available in 3 languages, then so should the statement.