UK public sector accessibility

With the new Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations (PSBAR) coming into play on 23rd September, public services have been working to improve the accessibility of their websites, but there is still a lot to be done to make sure that everyone can access all services in the same way – especially in the private sector where these guidelines are not mandatory.

The new regulations, (which apply to local government, police forces, fire and rescue services, NHS organisations, and universities / colleges) mean that:

• All public sector existing websites and internal sites must be accessible.
• Videos and audio published after 23rd September must be accessible.
• Each website must have an updated and compliant accessibility statement with the relevant legal wording included.

What the government is hinting at is: accessibility requirements are no longer a ‘nice to have’, but should be seen as a priority and an absolute necessity for all businesses and organizations in the long run (not just the public sector).

However, we know that recruiting disabled participants to take part in user research still represents a major challenge. We have been working to raise awareness about the importance of testing for accessibility both amongst our community of participants and within the UX industry since 2012.

Four years later, this is what we are currently doing at People for Research to support your user recruitment needs.

Making sure our community’s voice is heard

It’s important for us to involve our community of participants at every stage of the recruitment process. That includes going to our disabled community members and asking them to share their feedback with us on a regular basis.

Sharing knowledge

Ahead of the 23rd September, we published an extensive list of recent articles by experts, useful advice we gathered around the web, and insightful online events happening soon.

Teaming up with the experts

We are the best, so we have kept busy advising clients through our in-house expertise. Talk to us, we are here to help.

Extending our accessibility panel

Have you heard about our Accessibility Panel? Due to growing demand, we are currently adding new members to our panel. If you need participants for accessibility research or testing, the accessibility panel means you can have your own accessibility panel.

To find out more about the ‘Accessibility Panel’ click here