Nearly half of UK websites exhibit subpar accessibility standards, risking exclusion of disabled users
According to research from Warbox, a brand communications agency, 48% of UK websites scored below 90 on Google’s PageSpeed Insights Accessibility scale. That’s the threshold Warbox defines as the minimum standard for what qualifies as an accessible user experience. These aren’t fringe sites. The study reviewed over 1,200 websites spanning 14 key sectors. The IT sector, ironically, the one you’d expect to lead on this, scored even worse, with 49% of sites underperforming.
The takeaway? We’re building digital experiences that exclude a significant portion of our users, particularly those with disabilities. That’s not just a missed opportunity, it’s bad execution. Poor readability, hard-to-navigate layouts, and low-contrast color schemes aren’t mere design flaws. They block users from completing actions as basic as browsing content or making a purchase. And when that happens, users don’t stick around, they leave, and many don’t come back.
This isn’t a side issue. It’s a key structural inefficiency. Digital platforms are central to almost every business model now. If your site fails on accessibility, you’re effectively closing the door on customers and revenue. For execs betting heavily on digital transformation, this matters.
Accessibility should be treated the same way you’d treat performance, uptime, or data security: it needs to be measured and built in. Good user experience is one of the most scalable forms of impact. Making your website accessible doesn’t lower design quality, it raises the bar for usability and reach.
It’s not about chasing compliance. It’s about making sure what you’ve built is usable by everyone. And inclusive businesses outperform over time, not just in ethics, but in returns. You wouldn’t open a store and lock the front door to one customer in five. You shouldn’t do it online either.
Poor website accessibility has commercial repercussions and undermines consumer trust
Here’s the direct reality: when websites aren’t accessible, users leave, fast. And when they do, they take their money and trust elsewhere.
The Warbox data is clear. An overwhelming 80% of UK adults with disabilities say they feel excluded by websites that aren’t built with accessibility in mind. That figure should concern every business leader looking at digital growth. You’re not just losing a sale, you’re creating negative brand equity that compounds. If a customer can’t complete a transaction due to poor design, small fonts, weak contrast, confusing navigation, they won’t come back. They’ll remember the experience, and they’ll share it.
Tania Gerard, an accessible marketing consultant and founder of Tania Gerard Digital, makes the point directly. She’s neurodivergent herself and has abandoned online purchases many times because basic design obstacles made it impossible to complete a checkout. She doesn’t just leave the site, she leaves with the perception that the brand didn’t think about her. That’s a failure in customer experience, brand relevance, and accessibility all at once.
Disabled users aren’t a niche group. In the UK, they represent a significant portion of the population, millions of users with spending power. The commercial risk of inaccessible digital platforms is not theoretical. It’s happening now, and it shows up in lost revenue, high bounce rates, and degraded user engagement.
Executives running digital businesses, or businesses making digital moves, must decide whether their platforms are designed for performance or for friction. Accessibility delivers both ethical and economic ROI. It opens sites to broader audiences and helps future-proof your brand in a marketplace where inclusion is no longer optional.
It’s time to ensure your digital presence doesn’t just exist, it performs for every user, every time. That’s how you retain trust, drive sales, and build long-term competitive advantage.
Despite long-established guidelines, many companies fail to meet basic web accessibility standards
The Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) have been around for more than 25 years. The knowledge has existed. The standards are clear. Yet many businesses are still failing to meet them.
This isn’t about lacking tools or technical knowledge. Most of the issues impacting website accessibility don’t require deep engineering to solve. Missing alt text, poor color contrast, mislabeled buttons, and inaccessible forms are common problems, and they’re not hard to fix when addressed early in design or development. The real issue is that accessibility is still not seen as a foundational element of digital strategy.
Mark Fensom, Director at Warbox, summed it up well. He said, “Creating an accessible website doesn’t have to be expensive, and it should be built in from the start.” That’s the right view. Accessibility isn’t a luxury feature. It’s a fundamental part of product integrity, just like reliability, security, and speed.
When digital experiences are patched together without considering accessibility, the result is exclusion by default. That’s a structural flaw, not a tech limitation. And fixing it doesn’t require huge budgets. It requires buy-in at the leadership level to make accessibility a non-negotiable part of execution.
The moment your brand commits to digital platforms, it also takes on the responsibility of ensuring those platforms work for every user. Accessibility doesn’t need to be expensive. What’s expensive is launching experiences that only serve a portion of your market while shutting out millions.
You don’t need a separate accessibility strategy. You need to embed it into your product and digital roadmap, before it becomes a compliance issue, reputational risk, or growth blocker. The companies that scale accessibility into their infrastructure now will avoid retrofitting costs later and increase the usability of everything they offer from the start. That’s smart execution.
Regulatory requirements and sector-specific mandates lead to higher accessibility standards in certain industries
Some sectors are getting accessibility right, not because they want to, but because they have to.
Local government websites in the UK lead the field, with only 8% needing improvement, according to Warbox’s 2025 analysis. That’s not a coincidence. It’s the result of legal obligations tied to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which public institutions are required to follow. Enforcement pushes compliance. And compliance creates better digital outcomes.
Meanwhile, commercial sectors continue to underdeliver. Travel websites rank lowest, with 79% falling short of accessibility standards. Hospitality is close behind at 70%, followed by fashion and retail at 64% and 63% respectively. Legal services, a sector where clarity and public service matter, still sees 61% of websites needing work. That shows where market incentives alone aren’t closing critical gaps in digital inclusion.
Executives should not wait for mandates to decide their standards. Regulatory pressure has clearly driven better results in the public sector, but private companies have an opportunity to act before being forced. Doing so reduces long-term risk and increases digital maturity across the organization.
The takeaway here is simple: regulation works. But market leaders shouldn’t need it to do the right thing. Accessibility creates usability at scale, and where there’s usability, there’s adoption. Teams that integrate accessibility into their processes now position themselves ahead of the curve, both in product experience and compliance readiness.
Corporate leaders who internalize what’s already working in the public sector will avoid future pressure and put themselves in a stronger competitive position. Accessibility isn’t just a government concern. It’s a business advantage, if you choose to execute on it.
Key executive takeaways
- Nearly half of UK websites fail accessibility standards: 48% of UK websites, including 49% of IT sector sites, fall below Google’s accessibility score of 90, limiting usability for disabled users. Leaders should treat accessibility as a baseline product requirement, not a secondary feature.
- Inaccessible design damages revenue and brand trust: 80% of UK adults with disabilities feel excluded by inaccessible sites, directly impacting purchasing behavior and long-term loyalty. Executives must address accessibility to avoid losing market share and eroding brand equity.
- Industry still lags despite decades-old guidelines: Despite WCAG being available for over 25 years, many businesses continue to miss basic requirements. Leaders should embed accessibility into digital roadmaps early to prevent costly retrofits and user friction.
- Compliance drives better accessibility outcomes in public sector: Only 8% of local government websites need accessibility improvements, thanks to regulatory enforcement. Commercial leaders should proactively adopt similar standards to increase digital readiness and reduce future legal or reputational risks.
