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UK Health Sector

Website Accessibility for UK Healthcare Providers

Healthcare organisations across the UK must ensure their websites and digital services are accessible to every patient, carer, and staff member. This obligation is upheld through the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations (PSBAR).

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Recite Me works with private and public healthcare organisations to build more accessible and inclusive digital patient experiences.

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Regulatory Framework

UK Accessibility Regulations for Health Organisations

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 apply to all publicly funded health bodies in the UK, requiring websites and mobile applications to comply with WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Specifically, healthcare organisations must:

Meet Requirements of WCAG 2.2 AA Standards

All patient-facing websites, appointment portals, and mobile applications must meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

Identify and Remediate Inaccessible Content

Health bodies must actively locate and fix inaccessible digital content, providing accessible alternatives where immediate remediation is not possible.

Publish and Maintain an Accessibility Statement

An accurate, current accessibility statement must be published and maintained on healthcare websites.

Monitor Accessibility Continuously

Health organisations must maintain a structured programme for monitoring, reviewing, and improving digital accessibility over time.

Accessibility Compliance Scrutiny

Healthcare organisations must comply with PSBAR requirements. Failure to do so can result in demand letters, lawsuits, and significant penalties.

Provide Reasonable Adjustments

Healthcare providers must make reasonable adjustments under PSBAR and the Equality Act 2010, so that disabled patients and staff are not  disadvantaged.

How We Help

Accessibility Challenges for Healthcare Providers that Recite Me can Resolve

For healthcare providers, several specific digital accessibility challenges must be addressed. Here’s how Recite Me solutions can help:

Hospital and GP websites serve patients with visual impairments, learning difficulties, cognitive disabilities, and those for whom English is not their first language. Without the right support, these individuals may struggle to access appointment booking systems, health information, and care pathways. The Recite Me Assistive Toolbar provides screen reading, translation, and display customisation to support every patient.

NHS trusts and private health providers often manage multiple websites, patient portals, and digital service platforms. With WCAG 2.2 Level AA required for regulatory compliance, identifying where to begin can feel overwhelming. The Recite Me Website Accessibility Checker performs an automated audit of your entire digital estate, highlighting violations and providing clear guidance on how to fix them.

If your organisation receives a formal complaint or equality enquiry, Recite Me can help you act swiftly, formulate a clear remediation plan. We'll help you demonstrate a credible commitment to resolving existing accessibility barriers and preventing further issues from arising.

Healthcare websites routinely publish hundreds of patient information leaflets, clinical guidelines, referral forms, and policy documents, many of which are inaccessible. The Recite Me PDF Accessibility Checker and Remediation Tool allows organisations to resolve these compliance issues at scale, making documents accessible for all patients and staff.

An accessibility statement must be kept up to date, reflecting what has been tested, what was found, what has been resolved, and what work is still ongoing. Recite Me's suite of tools, including the web accessibility checker, consultancy services, and accessibility statement templates, can help health organisations meet this PSBAR requirement and demonstrate compliance clearly during inspections or reviews.

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Across Your Organisation

Key Roles Recite Me Supports Across Healthcare Organisations

 

Accessibility is delivered by combining the efforts of multiple departments across NHS trusts, health charities, and private providers. Recite Me supports the teams responsible for different parts of that work.

Digital, IT and Web Teams

Recite Me equips technology and web teams with the tools needed to implement accessibility across all patient-facing digital platforms.

Structured scanning, prioritised fixes, progress tracking, and long-term monitoring are all available to support ongoing regulatory compliance.

Marketing & Student Recruitment

Recite Me supports patient communications teams with tools to share health information in accessible formats.

This includes multilingual translation, document support, and customisable display options, reaching patients from all backgrounds and with a wide range of needs.

Governance & Compliance Teams

Recite Me helps health organisations align with accessibility legislation, including WCAG 2.2, PSBAR, and the Equality Act 2010.

Every step of the compliance programme can be documented to support internal governance, CQC inspections, and regulatory reporting requirements.

Recruitment & Hiring Teams

Teams involved in hiring and workforce planning shape how job opportunities are communicated and experienced online.

Recite Me supports more inclusive recruitment journeys by making vacancy information and application processes easier for all candidates to engage with.

Our Solutions

Recite Me Accessibility Solutions for the Health Sector

Recite Me is a digital accessibility platform offering a range of solutions that help health organisations make their digital services more inclusive and compliant. Key solutions include:

INCLUSION

Assistive Toolbar

  • Text-to-speech with over 65 voices
  • Translation software with over 100 languages
  • Styling changes for colours and fonts
  • Focus tools, such as rulers and screen masks
  • Reading aids, such as dictionaries, page summarisers, and magnifiers

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COMPLIANCE

Web Accessibility Checker

  • Full site scanning for WCAG 2.2 violations
  • Prioritised list of accessibility fixes
  • AI-powered autofixes, code suggestions, and image alt text generation
  • Schedule future audits for long-term compliance
  • Integration with project management tools like Jira and Azure DevOps

Explore our Web Checker

DOCUMENTS

PDF Accessibility Checker

  • Full website scanning to identify inaccessible documents
  • Implement AI-powered autofixes to resolve accessibility issues
  • Remediate PDF files at scale
  • Track progress and schedule future scans
  • Compliance with accessibility standards like WCAG & PSBAR

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Customers

Organisations We Work With

Recite Me works with health organisations across the UK, including NHS trusts, health charities, private hospital groups, and primary care networks.

Download the Healthcare Accessibility Guide

Learn more about how to make your healthcare website accessible for every patient, carer, and member of staff.

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Resolving digital barriers

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Website build tips

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How Recite Me helps

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Healthcare Accessibility FAQs

Publicly funded health bodies must meet WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, as well as the Equality Act 2010.

Yes, public-facing PDFs and documents, including patient information leaflets, referral forms, and clinical guidance, must be accessible unless they fall under specific regulatory exemptions.

 

No, accessibility statements must accurately reflect the current accessibility status of a website and be maintained over time as content, platforms, and digital services evolve.

 

No, accessibility tools can provide significant support, but health organisations must still identify and remediate structural accessibility issues across their entire digital estate to achieve genuine compliance.

Accessibility should be monitored on an ongoing basis, particularly when patient portals, booking systems, or clinical information pages are updated, or new content is published.

 

The Government Digital Service monitors compliance with public sector accessibility regulations. The Equality and Human Rights Commission and the Equality Act 2010 also apply independently to all health providers, regardless of whether they are publicly or privately funded.