Which laws point at WCAG? UK, EU, US and Canada, plainly

UKPublic sector regs 2018 (EN 301 549, so WCAG 2.2 AA in practice); Equality Act 2010 for everyone else

EUEuropean Accessibility Act since June 2025; EN 301 549 (WCAG 2.1 AA at present)

USADA (courts and settlements use WCAG 2.0/2.1 AA; Title II rule names 2.1 AA); Section 508 (WCAG 2.0 AA)

CanadaAODA in Ontario (WCAG 2.0 AA); Accessible Canada Act federally

First: WCAG is a standard, not a law

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are written by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), an international standards body. Nobody is "WCAG compliant" in the way they are "VAT registered": there is no regulator, no certificate and no official audit. What exists is a set of success criteria at three levels (A, AA and AAA) that other documents can refer to.

Laws and regulations around the world borrow WCAG because it is detailed, free to read and maintained. When they do, they usually name a version (2.0, 2.1 or 2.2) and a level (almost always AA). That version and level is what matters for you, and it can lag behind the newest WCAG by years.

Everything below is a summary of public information as of 27 October 2026, written by a software developer, not a lawyer. It is here to help you ask the right questions. Check the current text of each law and get proper advice before relying on any of it.

United Kingdom

Public sector: the 2018 accessibility regulations

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 apply to most UK public sector websites and apps: councils, NHS organisations, government departments, many universities and similar bodies. They require the site to be "accessible", which the regulations define by reference to the harmonised European standard EN 301 549, which in turn points at WCAG. In practice the UK government's monitoring body (part of the Government Digital Service) tests against WCAG 2.2 AA and expects an accessibility statement in a set format.

This does not apply to ordinary businesses or charities, except where they are delivering a public sector service under contract. Check the published guidance for the scope, the exemptions and the current WCAG version the monitoring team is using.

Everyone else: the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 (and in Northern Ireland the Disability Discrimination Act 1995) requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage. It does not mention WCAG. Courts and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have treated WCAG as a sensible benchmark for what reasonable looks like on a website, but the duty is about outcomes for real people, not about passing a checklist.

So in the UK a private company has no statutory WCAG target, but it does have a legal duty to disabled customers that a WCAG-informed site is the usual way to meet. Treat that as a reason to fix real barriers, not as a compliance claim to put in a footer.

European Union

The Web Accessibility Directive (public sector)

Directive (EU) 2016/2102 is the EU parent of the UK public sector regulations above. Each member state has its own transposition and its own monitoring body, all working from EN 301 549.

The European Accessibility Act (private sector)

Directive (EU) 2019/882, usually called the European Accessibility Act or EAA, has applied to products and services placed on the EU market since 28 June 2025. It covers a defined list, including e-commerce, banking services, e-books, transport ticketing and telecoms, and it applies to businesses outside the EU that sell those services to people inside it. Micro-enterprises (fewer than 10 staff and under a turnover threshold) offering services are exempt, with some conditions.

The EAA does not itself say "WCAG". It sets functional requirements, and the presumption of conformity comes from meeting the harmonised standard, again EN 301 549, whose web clauses map to WCAG 2.1 AA at the time of writing (a revision aligned with WCAG 2.2 has been in progress). Enforcement, penalties and the exact scope vary by member state, so check the national law of each market you sell into.

EN 301 549

This is the European standard for the accessibility of ICT products and services, published by ETSI, CEN and CENELEC. Chapter 9 covers web content and is essentially a copy of the WCAG A and AA success criteria of the version it references. If a European contract or law says "EN 301 549", for a website it mostly means WCAG AA, plus some extra requirements for software, documents and support services.

United States

The ADA

The Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 predates the web and does not mention it. Title III (public accommodations) has been the basis of thousands of lawsuits and demand letters against businesses over inaccessible websites, and courts have reached different conclusions about when a website counts as a place of public accommodation. The Department of Justice has long said it considers websites covered, and settlements almost always name WCAG 2.0 or 2.1 AA as the fix.

For state and local government (Title II), a Department of Justice rule published in April 2024 sets WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical standard, with compliance dates from 2026 depending on the size of the public body. That is the first time a US regulation has named a WCAG version for the web directly.

Section 508

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to US federal agencies and to the technology they buy. Since the 2017 refresh its standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 AA by reference. Vendors selling to the federal government are usually asked for an accessibility conformance report (an ACR, often on the VPAT template) that maps the product to those criteria. Note that an automated scan is nowhere near enough to fill in an ACR honestly.

Canada

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and its Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation require most organisations in Ontario with 50 or more employees, and public sector bodies, to make their public websites and web content conform to WCAG 2.0 AA (with exceptions for live captions and audio description). Reports on compliance are filed with the province.

Federally, the Accessible Canada Act 2019 covers federally regulated organisations such as banks, airlines and telecoms, with standards being developed by Accessibility Standards Canada; the federal government's own web standard references WCAG 2.1 AA. Other provinces (Manitoba, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Quebec) have their own acts at different stages, so check the one that applies to you.

Elsewhere, briefly

Australia's Disability Discrimination Act 1992 has been applied to websites since the Sydney Olympics case in 2000, and the Australian government requires WCAG 2.1 AA for its own sites. Many other countries (Israel, Japan, India, New Zealand, Norway and more) have public sector rules or wider laws that cite WCAG at AA. The pattern is the same everywhere: a public sector mandate first, then private sector duties that lean on WCAG as the measure of reasonable.

What this means in practice

WCAG 2.2 AA is the safe target. Every law above references 2.0 or 2.1 AA, and 2.2 includes all of those criteria (minus 4.1.1 Parsing, which was removed). Meet 2.2 AA and you have met the older versions.
An automated scan is a starting point, not evidence. Tools like Websight catch a worthwhile share of the problems and none of the judgement calls. No law accepts a scanner's score as proof of anything.
Accessibility statements are expected in some places. UK and EU public bodies must publish one in a set format; EAA service providers must explain how they meet the requirements. Write it honestly: list the known problems and when they will be fixed.
Check the current guidance. Versions, dates and scope change. The links below go to the primary sources.

This page is general information, not legal advice. It may be out of date. If you need to know how a law applies to you, ask a solicitor or lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction.

Which laws point at WCAG?