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Accessibility guides

'GOV.UK summarised the importance of accessibility best: “The people who need our services the most are often the people who find them hardest to use.” Government data around housing need states that “although the gap has closed over recent years, 1 in 3 households with a disabled person still live in non-decent accommodation”.

In the UK, 1 in 5 people have a disability, which is over 14 million people. Digital accessibility is critical to providing good and inclusive services. In addition, failing to make our services accessible to everyone is a breach of the Equalities Act 2010.'

Andrea Dahlen, Senior User Experience Designer

More than ever, organisations know their websites and social media content need to be usable for people with disabilities, who make up over 20% of the UK population.

These guides will help you understand accessibility and how to build it into your plans and content.

Shelter’s Accessibility Guidance & Best Practices

1 in 5 people in the UK have a disability. Web accessibility ensures they face no barriers to using our websites and content. This guide explains the types of disabilities, audience volume, legal requirements and how to create a roadmap to accessibility for a digital product or service.
Read the guide

Writing accessible content

There are straightforward best practices for making sure your users with disabilities can navigate and understand your content.
Read the guide

Social media and accessibility

Shelter’s social channels are fundamental to our ability to reach people facing homelessness or experiencing bad housing, as well as appeal to people hoping to support our work. So it’s crucial that our social content is accessible.
Read more

Accessibility success criteria

This comprehensive list covers the criteria for meeting Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards.
Read more


Read our other content guides

Read our brand guidelines


Contact us

Have a question or comment about accessibility or other digital topic? Found a bug? Or maybe you’d like to contribute to the framework? Use our contact form to get in touch.

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