The UK website wake-up call: liability, the law, and the developer gap

In the UK, digital inclusion is often discussed as a "nice-to-have" feature. We hear the same refrain from SMEs and large brands alike: "We care about accessibility, but we don't have the budget to prioritise it right now."

At Kindera, we believe it is important for businesses to understand that from a compliance perspective, the law does not consider your budget a valid reason for exclusion — especially when you consider that 25% of the UK population is now classed as disabled.

Your anticipatory duty

The most significant aspect of the Equality Act 2010 is that the duty to make reasonable adjustments is anticipatory.

Most business owners assume they only have to fix a website if a disabled person complains. This is a common, and potentially expensive, misunderstanding. Under Schedule 2, Paragraph 2 of the Equality Act, the duty is owed to disabled persons generally.

Because the duty is anticipatory, you cannot argue in court that you didn't know someone with a disability would visit your site. The latest Family Resources Survey confirms that 16 million people in the UK (25% of the population) are disabled. The law expects you to have foreseen this demographic and prepared your "digital storefront" accordingly. If a user reaches your site and finds a barrier, the breach has already occurred.

Why you haven't seen "the big court case"

Business owners often assume that because they haven't seen a "High Court vs. Small Business" headline, the law is untested. This is a dangerous assumption.

The reason there are few public judgments is that most cases are settled out of court. When a company is served with a Letter Before Action for an inaccessible website, their legal team quickly realises that "we didn't have the budget" is not a valid legal defence.

Historic examples show that even major brands choose settlement over trial:

• RNIB vs. BMIBaby: The airline settled out of court after the RNIB took legal action regarding an inaccessible booking system that blocked blind users.
• RNIB vs. Multiple High Street Brands: Over the years, the RNIB has successfully challenged major supermarkets and banks. These cases almost always end in a settlement and an agreement to fix the site, often accompanied by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that keep the final payout figure private.

The cost of a settlement often far outweighs the cost of the fix:

• Injury to feelings: Claimants can seek damages for "injury to feelings" based on the Vento scale. Even a lower band claim for a single barrier can range from £1,300 to £12,600.
• Total costs: Between claimant compensation, your own legal fees, and the court-mandated requirement to fix the site anyway, a quiet settlement can easily cost an SME between £4,000 and £15,000+.

The liability trap: why your developer isn't the one at risk

There is a common misconception that if a website is inaccessible, it is the web developer’s problem. This is incorrect.

Legally, the site owner is the service provider and holds 100% of the liability under the Equality Act. If a claim is made, it is your name on the legal documents, not your agency's.

However, the "truth" of the industry is that digital accessibility is a highly technical specialism. Most web developers are experts in aesthetics and functionality, but very few are trained in accessibility. It is a massive "gotcha" for business owners: you pay for a professional website, but you unknowingly inherit a legal liability because the developer didn't know how to code for screen readers or keyboard navigation.

This is why we provide specialist Accessibility Training. Our programmes are designed for:

• Developers & designers: To bridge the technical skills gap.
• Content authors: To ensure every update you make stays compliant.
• Site owners: To understand your obligations and how to manage your digital assets.
• The insight workshop: A fantastic session for anyone looking to understand why this matters and how it works in practice.

WCAG: the benchmark for reasonable

While the Equality Act doesn't explicitly name technical standards, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the globally recognised benchmark used by courts and regulators to determine if a "reasonable adjustment" has been made.

If a website does not conform to WCAG 2.2 Level AA standards, it becomes almost impossible to argue that you have met your legal obligations. This is why we use these standards as the foundation for every accessibility audit we conduct.

Take the first step: You can’t fix what you haven't measured. Explore our Accessibility Audits to see where your site stands.

The "plastic bag" moment

The UK’s plastic bag charge succeeded because it turned a thoughtless habit into a conscious cost. Before the 5p charge was introduced, we used billions of bags a year without a second thought. Once a small financial consequence was added, usage dropped by a staggering 98% in major supermarkets.

Digital accessibility is currently in its "plastic bag" moment. Businesses are beginning to realise that the "habit" of ignoring accessibility is no longer free — the cost of staying inaccessible is now significantly higher than the cost of becoming inclusive.

Kindera: opening digital doors for 30 years. Is yours open?

References and further reading

1. GOV.UK: Family Resources Survey: financial year 2024 to 2025 — Confirming that 25% of the UK population is disabled.
2. Equality Act 2010, Section 20: Duty to make reasonable adjustments
3. Equality Act 2010, Schedule 2: Application of duty to service providers (Anticipatory Duty)
4. Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC): Statutory Code of Practice on Services, Public Functions and Associations
5. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary: Vento Bands - Presidential Direction on Injury to Feelings (Note: Figures are reviewed annually in April)
6. GOV.UK: Carrier bag charges: retailers' responsibilities — The legislation that shifted UK consumer and business behaviour through financial compliance.
7. W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Overview