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Electronic Government: Disability

Asked by Jim ShannonDemocratic Unionist PartyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled Answered 6 July 2026UIN 12673

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to ensure the accessibility of Government digital services for disabled people.

Answered by Ian Murray

Government services must work for everyone, and public bodies have a legal duty to consider the needs of disabled people, including meeting the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

To meet government’s accessibility requirements, services must meet WCAG 2.2 AA standards, work with assistive technologies, involve disabled users in design. They must publish accessibility statements which outline any accessibility problems and plans to fix these.

Services must also provide assisted digital support in ways that works for each individual user – including in person, telephone and webchat – and make it clear to users how they can access this support. Government assesses and monitors services to ensure accessibility standards are met.

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