Accessibility Statement: Complete Template and Writing Guide

What is an accessibility statement?

An accessibility statement is a mandatory document that all organizations subject to digital accessibility obligations must publish on their website or mobile application. It publicly reports the compliance level of the digital service against the RGAA framework.

Missing this statement can result in fines up to €25,000 per year. It is one of the first actions to take, even before achieving full compliance.

Required content

1. Compliance status

• Fully compliant — 100% of applicable RGAA criteria are met.
• Partially compliant — At least 50% of applicable criteria are met.
• Non-compliant — Less than 50% are met, or no audit has been performed.

2. Test results

Overall compliance rate, number of compliant criteria vs applicable criteria, and optionally per-theme breakdown.

3. Non-accessible content

For each non-conformity: description of the issue, reason (non-compliance, disproportionate burden, or uncontrolled third-party content).

4. Statement details

• Statement date and audit date.
• RGAA version used.
• Auditor identity.
• Technologies and testing tools used.
• Sample of audited pages.

5. Feedback and recourse

• Contact mechanism — Email, form, or phone number for reporting issues.
• Recourse — In France, users can contact the Défenseur des droits if the organization fails to respond.

Where to publish

• Dedicated page — Create a page at /accessibility or similar.
• Footer link — Add a link from every page's footer.
• Homepage mention — Display "Accessibility: [status]" on the homepage linking to the full statement.

Best practices

1. Be honest — A transparent "non-compliant" statement with an action plan is better than a false "fully compliant" claim.
2. Be specific — Describe non-conformities precisely with RGAA criterion references.
3. Offer alternatives — Phone number, email, or alternative formats for inaccessible content.
4. Update regularly — At least annually, after each audit, or after major site changes.

Multi-year accessibility plan

In addition to the statement, organizations must publish a multi-year accessibility plan (up to 3 years) containing their accessibility policy, current compliance status, annual action plans, allocated resources, and progress indicators. Missing this plan results in fines up to €25,000 per year.

Tip: Publish your accessibility statement now, even if your site is "non-compliant." Start with an automated scan to get the data you need, then plan your priority fixes.