A number of issues are continuing to affect the accessibility of public sector websites and mobile apps, according to a new report from the Government Digital Service (GDS).
It has published the results of its monitoring of the websites and apps from 2022-24 and highlighted four major issue.
These include not enough colour contrast between text and background, which makes it harder for people with visual impairments to read; and a lack of visible focus, which affects the users of keyboards and screen readers (which help visually impaired people to use a computer).
Another involves problems in using a website or app with a keyboard, which affects users who have trouble operating a pointing device such as a mouse, and screen reader users.
The fourth is that some sites do not adjust the shape and size of the browser or device, which affects users who need to use a particular device, magnification level of screen orientation.
Overall, GDS found 29,787 accessibility issues, of which 16,482 (55.3%) were fixed during the monitoring.
Outdated statements
In addition, 85% of the websites and apps monitored by GDS had published an accessibility statement, but many had become out-of-date without a review in the previous 12 months.
“It’s important that organisations check and update their statements to reflect changes to their websites of apps,” said Chris Heathcote, product manager for accessibility monitoring at GDS.
The monitoring exercise covered 1,203 public sector websites and 21 mobile apps, and extended to some secondary websites such as those used for recruitment.
GDS also pointed out that public sector websites and mobile apps have to be accessible by law.
