The accessibility imperative for citizen services

In an era where digital transformation is reshaping how citizens interact with public services, accessibility is no longer optional, it’s a necessity. Central and local government has been moving services online for some time now, from tax filings and passport applications to enabling parking fines and service charge payments. While this shift helps to deliver efficiency, cost savings and convenience, it also brings with it the risk of excluding those who struggle with digital interfaces, particularly the elderly, disabled and digitally inexperienced.

Unlike private sector services, where consumers can choose alternatives to services that don’t meet their needs, there is no consumer choice for government digital platforms. So, when public services are not accessible, they are not merely an inconvenience for users, they deny them fundamental rights. If public digital services aren’t accessible, they effectively lock out citizens who rely on them most.

The ‘Understanding accessibility requirements for public sector bodies’ guidance document, published by the Government Digital Service and Central Digital and Data Office, revealed a troubling 40% of UK local council homepages fail basic accessibility checks, locking out many citizens who depend on these services.

Among the most common barriers are government websites that remain difficult to use on smartphones, leaving mobile users frustrated. Mobiles are often the only way older citizens and people from less well-off backgrounds have of accessing the internet so ensuring services work on smartphones is crucial. Another common issue is that sites don’t support keyboard navigation, effectively shutting out those who don’t or can’t use a mouse such as screen reader users and users with motor impairments. Essential documents, such as PDF forms, often lack proper tagging, making them unreadable with assistive technologies.

Poor color contrast is a widespread issue that impacts legibility for huge numbers of users that would not consider themselves disabled, and for users with visual impairments it can turn a simple task into an exhausting struggle. These are more than minor inconveniences; they prevent equal access to vital public services.

These issues aren’t just technical or design oversights, they actually represent breaches of the laws in UK and the EU that mandate accessibility of public sector websites and services. So why is it that so many public sector websites still fall short of the legal requirements and their duty to citizens?

Partly this is because the enforcement of accessibility has been weak outside of the United States where there has been significant litigation.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA) represents a significant change of approach

The EAA came into force in June 2025 and although some have said that it is a “GDPR moment for accessibility,” the EAA is different. GDPR is a regulation as the member states have to transpose the act into national laws. The EAA goes beyond public sector and covers products and services in the private sector including smartphones, banking services, E-books and E-commerce, amongst others.

The requirements apply to all newly marketed products and services within the scope of the EAA. Unlike previous guidelines, it mandates enforcement, requiring EU member states to establish monitoring bodies. Non-compliant organizations risk fines or market exclusion.

For the UK, the EAA doesn’t apply to services that are solely accessed in country but if a product or service is marketed at EU citizens there is a requirement. UK Public Sector Accessibility Regulations remain in force, but compliance is inconsistent. While some services (like GOV.UK) excel, many local councils and agencies lag behind.

The challenge isn’t just regulation — it’s culture, training and resource allocation.

Even when accessibility tools exist, they often go underutilized due to poor awareness and training. Microsoft and Apple, for example, have built robust accessibility features, screen readers, voice control, magnification and customizable color schemes, but many users don’t know they exist or how to activate them.

In government services where there is no user choice, this knowledge problem is compounded, users often don’t know what’s available to them and even today when accessibility has been mandated for government services for years there is still a knowledge gap in the people building the services.

A well-designed chatbot or AI assistant could help users navigate complex processes, but if it’s voice-only, it excludes deaf users. If it lacks keyboard navigation, it fails those with motor impairments. Worse yet, many digital services are designed for the convenience of administrators, not citizens, prioritizing cost savings over usability.

What more needs to be done?

True digital inclusion demands a fundamental shift in how we design, deliver and govern public services.

Services must embrace multi-modal interactions, seamlessly supporting voice commands, text input and visual cues to meet diverse needs. A citizen with limited mobility should navigate as effortlessly as someone using voice controls, while a visually-impaired user must have equal access to information through screen readers.

There are multiple ways to embed accessibility into digital services through actionable insights and AI-driven solutions. By mapping assistive technology adoption, like screen readers, keyboard navigation, and color contrast tools, across large organizations, it’s easy to identify gaps where users might struggle, even when features exist but go underused.

It’s also important to remember that even the best tools fail without proper training. Public sector teams need deep accessibility expertise, while citizens, especially older adults and those new to assistive tech, require clear guidance on using these features.

As AI reshapes digital service creation, we must ensure it follows accessibility coding best practices that meet global standards. The inherent inaccessibility of the internet makes it a bad place for AI to learn to code inclusively. If you ask AI to build you a website, there is a high chance it will build you an inaccessible one. This is why we still need humans in the loop. Used responsibly, AI can democratize access rather than amplify existing inequities.

Digital government services should empower all citizens. To get to this stage requires the technology and the accountability in equal measure. Governments must impose real consequences for inaccessible services, whether through penalties, transparency reports or mandated remediation. Without enforcement, standards become mere suggestions.

As AI and automation reshape public interactions, we must ensure that no one is left behind due to poor design, lack of awareness or weak enforcement. The technology exists. The regulations are (mostly) in place. When public services fail in accessibility, they fail in their most basic duty: serving everyone.