Ensuring compliance with WCAG2.2 Print

Keeping Your Council Website Accessible: Understanding WCAG 2.2

As a local council website clerk, you play a vital role in ensuring your council's online presence is accessible to everyone in your community. You might be familiar with WCAG 2.1 AA, the previous standard for web accessibility, but we're here to explain the shift to WCAG 2.2 and what it means for your website. At NetWise, we're proud to confirm that all NetWise websites are compliant with the new WCAG 2.2 standards. This means the underlying structure and functionality of your website are already up to date. However, your crucial role in maintaining this accessibility doesn't stop there. The content you upload and manage is just as important in ensuring your website remains fully compliant.

What's New in WCAG 2.2?

WCAG 2.2 builds upon the foundations of WCAG 2.1 AA, introducing new criteria that aim to make the web even more accessible, particularly for users with cognitive disabilities, low vision, and those using mobile devices. While the core principles remain the same, these additions address some common barriers that users face. For the non-technical reader, think of it this way: WCAG 2.1 AA was a great set of guidelines, and WCAG 2.2 is simply a more comprehensive and refined version, plugging a few gaps to make sure everyone can use your website with ease.  

Your Role in Maintaining WCAG 2.2 Compliance

Even with a NetWise website, your vigilance is key. Here are some fundamental aspects of WCAG 2.2 compliance, focusing on the content you add:

• Provide Transcripts for Audio, Video and for Flyers: If you upload videos or audio recordings (such as council meeting minutes or public announcements) that include spoken content, you must provide a text transcript. This allows users who are deaf or hard of hearing, or those who prefer to read, to access the information. See further down for a more detailed explanation on handling flyers and posters (Images with text).
• Don't Forget Alt Text for Images: This is a cornerstone of web accessibility. Every image you upload that conveys meaning should have descriptive "alt text." This text is read aloud by screen readers for visually impaired users, allowing them to understand the image's content.
  • Good Alt Text Example: alt="A photograph of the Mayor shaking hands with a local resident outside the council building."
  • Bad Alt Text Example: alt="image1.jpg" (This provides no meaningful information.)
• Clear and Concise Language: Use plain language that is easy to understand. Avoid jargon where possible.
• Logical Heading Structure: Use headings (e.g., Heading 1, Heading 2) to structure your content logically. This helps screen reader users navigate the page and makes the content easier to scan for everyone.
• Good Colour Contrast: Ensure there's sufficient contrast between text colour and background colour so that the text is easy to read, especially for users with visual impairments.
• Keyboard Navigability: All interactive elements on your website (links, buttons, forms) should be usable with just a keyboard, without needing a mouse. This is something NetWise websites are built to do, but be mindful when embedding third-party widgets or forms.

Updating Your Accessibility Statement

Your council website's accessibility statement is a crucial document that informs users about your commitment to accessibility and provides contact information for any issues. As your NetWise website is now WCAG 2.2 compliant, you need to update this statement accordingly. Here's how to do it:

1. Navigate to your accessibility statement: This is usually found in the header menu of your website.
2. Once on the accessibility statement page, you should see a black admin bar at the very top of your screen (if you are logged in as an administrator).
3. Click on the "Edit Page" or "Edit" option within this black admin bar.
4. You will now be in the editing interface for your accessibility statement.
5. Find all instances of "WCAG 2.1 AA" (or similar phrases referring to the older standard) and change them to "WCAG 2.2".
6. Finally, and very importantly, update the "Review Date" at the bottom of the accessibility statement to today's date. This shows that your statement is current and reflects the latest standards.
7. Once you have made these changes, remember to click "Update" or "Publish" (depending on your WordPress setup) to save your revisions.

By taking these simple steps, you'll ensure your council's website remains a truly accessible and inclusive resource for all members of your community. Your efforts make a real difference!

The Main Area For Non Compliance

As a Parish, Town or Community Council, it’s important to make sure every part of your website — including your news posts — meets accessibility standards. Under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, council websites must comply with WCAG 2.2 guidelines. One of the most common issues we still see on NetWise UK websites is news articles where the only content is a link to a PDF, or worse, a JPG of a flyer or poster. While this might seem like a quick and easy way to publish information, it creates serious accessibility problems for website visitors and falls short of compliance requirements.

Why This Is a Problem

When a news article contains nothing but a link to a PDF or an image of a poster:

• Screen readers and assistive technologies often cannot access or interpret the content within the file or image.
• Visitors on mobile devices may struggle to view, zoom or download the file easily.
• Important information may be hidden behind inaccessible content, denying equal access to all residents.
• This approach breaches WCAG 2.2 success criteria, which requires content to be perceivable, operable and understandable for all users.

At best, it provides a poor user experience. At worst, it risks your website falling out of compliance with accessibility regulations.

What WCAG 2.2 Says

The WCAG 2.2 guidelines are clear that all users must be able to access content, regardless of their device or ability. Any essential information shared through your website should be available as readable, navigable text content within the web page itself, not locked away inside non-accessible formats like image files or untagged PDFs. Our websites have the ability to publish full transcripts, not just on news articles but also on document uploads. See our video tutorials for more.

What You Should Do Instead

On all NetWise UK WordPress websites, you have the tools to make your news posts accessible and compliant. Here’s what we recommend:

• When publishing a news article, include the key information as text on the page — even if you also attach a flyer or PDF for download.
• If using an image of a poster, ensure it has an appropriate alt text description and summarise its key information in the body of the article.
• Use proper headings (H2, H3) and clear, well-structured paragraphs so the content is easy to read and navigate with a screen reader.
• If a PDF is essential, make sure it is accessible — meaning it’s tagged properly, has searchable text, and isn’t just a scanned image.

By following these steps, you’ll improve both the usability of your site for everyone and your compliance with current regulations. Adding an accessibility plugin isn't a fix and isn't needed. Most users of assistive technology will already have their browsers configured to their preference, providing additional tools isn't required, all we need to do is ensure that our content is configured and presented in such a way that assistive technology can interact with it.

We’ve Covered This Before

Back in 2020, we shared detailed advice on this subject in our article: Making Council Website Content Accessible. The same principles still apply, and with the recent release of WCAG 2.2, it’s more important than ever to make sure your content practices are up to date. That article includes helpful examples of accessible content layouts and more guidance on what to avoid — it’s well worth a refresher.

Final Thoughts

Accessibility isn’t an optional extra — it’s a legal requirement for Parish, Town and Community Councils, and a vital part of making sure every resident can engage with local information. By ensuring your news posts contain proper text content alongside any downloads or images, you’ll make your NetWise UK website more useful, inclusive, and fully compliant with WCAG 2.2. And remember: a news post with good, clear text benefits everyone — not just those using assistive technologies, but mobile users, tablet users, and those on slower connections too.