Meeting school website accessibility requirements is a legal duty and a moral one. Every parent, whatever their needs or devices, should be able to read your news, find term dates and contact the school.
School website accessibility requirements, simplified
Colour contrast
Text must stand out clearly from its background to be readable by people with visual impairments. Pale grey text on white is one of the most common failures we see on school sites. Check every colour combination with a free contrast checker, including buttons, banners and image overlays, not just body text.
Alt text on images
Every meaningful image needs a text description so screen readers can convey its content to visually impaired visitors. Decorative images should be marked as such so they are skipped. Train everyone who uploads photos to write alt text as a habit, describing what the image shows and why it matters.
Keyboard navigation
Menus, forms, dropdowns and links must all work without a mouse, with a visible focus indicator showing where the user is as they tab through. Test this yourself: unplug your mouse and try to find term dates. If you get stuck, so will keyboard users.
Plain, clear language
Short sentences and everyday words help everyone, including parents with learning difficulties, low literacy or English as an additional language. Write like you speak at the school gate. Avoid jargon, acronyms and long policy-style sentences wherever possible.
Getting compliant in three moves
Step 1: Run an accessibility audit
Use a free automated checker for a first pass, then test manually with keyboard-only navigation and a screen reader trial. List every failure by page, prioritising the homepage, contact pages and admissions content that parents use most.
Step 2: Fix the big wins first
Colour contrast, missing alt text and proper heading structure solve the majority of issues and are usually quick to put right. Work through the list systematically rather than trying to fix everything in one heroic session.
Step 3: Publish a statement
An accessibility statement explaining what you have done, known limitations and how to report problems is itself a requirement for public sector sites. Review it annually and keep the contact route working.
An accessible website is simply a better website for every parent who uses it.
Key takeaway: Accessibility is ongoing, not one-off. Build contrast checks, alt text and keyboard testing into your normal publishing routine.
What is WCAG?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the international standard for accessible websites. Public sector bodies in the UK must meet WCAG 2.2 AA, and schools are expected to follow the same standard.
Do PDFs need to be accessible?
Yes, where they are essential. Better still, publish key information as proper web pages instead of PDFs, which are harder to make accessible and awkward on phones.
Who checks compliance?
The Government Digital Service monitors public sector sites, but the real test is whether your parents can actually use the site. Treat their feedback as your audit.
Ready to grow?
We build school websites that meet accessibility requirements from day one, so every family can use them with confidence. Firm fixed price once we understand your project.
