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Create your accessibility statement with a real audit
A few short questions about your offering, then we audit your website, and your statement contains the honest list of open issues from a real audit. Fits companies under the European Accessibility Act and public bodies under EU Directive 2016/2102. No boilerplate that makes you vulnerable.
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Who are we creating the statement for?
Different mandatory content applies to companies and public bodies. We build the fitting variant.
The generator creates a non-binding template based on your answers and an automated audit, not legal advice. Please have the statement reviewed by a lawyer before publishing.
What is an accessibility statement?
Not a marketing text and not a seal of approval, but an honest self-disclosure with clearly defined mandatory parts.
The accessibility statement is a legally required document in which a website operator publicly declares how accessible the offering actually is: which website it covers, how well it meets the requirements, which content is not yet accessible, and whom visitors can contact when they hit a barrier.
The obligation was introduced by EU Directive 2016/2102, initially for public bodies like authorities, municipalities and universities. With the European Accessibility Act, which has applied since June 28, 2025, it reaches the private sector: whoever offers consumers electronic services has to make the website accessible and document the status transparently.
Important to understand: the statement doesn't replace accessibility itself, it documents the status, honestly, concretely and up to date. That's exactly why copied templates without a real audit don't work. The central mandatory element is the list of content that is not accessible, and only someone who has actually audited their website knows that list.
Who needs a statement, and since when?
Two legal bases, two audiences. Since June 2025 the obligation affects far more companies than most people think.
Public bodies
Authorities, municipalities, universities and other public institutions have been obliged since EU Directive 2016/2102, for websites and mobile apps. The directive specifies the requirements: publish the statement, update it regularly, name a feedback mechanism and an enforcement procedure.
Private sector since June 28, 2025
The European Accessibility Act covers services in e-commerce through the national law of each member state: online shops, banks and payment services, telecommunications, e-book offerings, booking and ticketing platforms. Violations risk market surveillance measures and substantial fines, up to €100,000 in Germany, up to 5% of turnover in Italy.
The microenterprise exemptionCompanies with fewer than 10 employees and at most €2M annual turnover are exempt for services. Both conditions must be met at the same time, and the exemption doesn't apply to products. Our generator asks for these figures and gives a non-binding initial assessment; whether the exemption applies in your case can only be determined bindingly by a legal review.
These six parts belong in an accessibility statement
The European Accessibility Act and EU Directive 2016/2102 set the structure. Our generator fills every part with your answers and the audit results. For public bodies it produces the directive variant with compliance status and enforcement procedure.
Provider and scope
Which website does the statement cover, and who provides it? The provider's name has to be stated unambiguously, one statement per offering.
Description of the service
The law requires a short description of what you offer through the website, for example an online shop or a booking portal. One sentence is enough.
Applicable requirements
The reference to the governing rules: the European Accessibility Act and its national implementation, technically EN 301 549, which includes WCAG 2.1 level AA.
Implementation and feedback
Which barriers still exist, what's being worked on, and through which reachable contact can visitors report problems? This is exactly where copied templates fail.
Responsible enforcement body
Each member state names a market surveillance or enforcement body. Referencing it is mandatory, and it's missing from almost every copied template. Our generator includes the correct reference for your variant.
Date and assessment basis
When was the statement created and last reviewed, and what is the assessment based on: self-assessment, a third-party audit or an automated audit?
Sample: how a good accessibility statement is structured
The structure follows the law. What matters is what's in the individual sections. A commented overview with example wording.
Provider and scope
“This accessibility statement applies to the website published at www.example.com by Example Ltd and to the services offered through it. The service offered is: an online shop for office supplies.”
Name the provider and the offered service unambiguously. If you run several websites, each needs its own statement.
Applicable requirements
“This offering is subject to the requirements of the European Accessibility Act as implemented in national law. Technically we follow EN 301 549, which includes WCAG 2.1 level AA.”
The reference to the governing legal basis and the technical standard accessibility is measured against.
Implementation of accessibility
“As of today, the following barriers remain and are being worked on: Some images have no alternative text. The color contrast in the footer doesn't meet the minimum values.”
The most important section: concrete, verifiable, without whitewashing. Our generator fills it with the real results of your audit, plus the note that remediation is in progress.
Contact and feedback
“Have you noticed barriers? Write to accessibility@example.com, we respond within 14 days.”
A reachable address with a realistic response time. The contact actually has to be attended to.
Responsible enforcement body
“If you are not satisfied with our response, you can contact the market surveillance authority responsible for accessibility in your member state.”
The legally required reference to the responsible supervisory body. Our generator inserts the wording that fits your variant.
Preparation and assessment basis
“This statement was prepared on July 5, 2026. The assessment is based on an automated audit with accessibility-check.ai.”
Date and method make the statement traceable and show when the next update is due.
Where does the statement belong on your website?
As its own page, linked from every page in the footer, right next to the legal notice and privacy policy.
The statement belongs on your website as its own page, typically at an address like your-domain.com/accessibility and titled “Accessibility statement”. Visitors who hit a barrier must not have to search for it first. Publish it as an HTML page, not a PDF. An inaccessible PDF about accessibility would be an own goal. And remember maintenance: adjust the date with every update so it stays visible how current the information is.
Example: a website footer with a highlighted “Accessibility statement” link next to legal notice and privacy.
Fully, partially or not compliant?
The statement requires one of three classifications. Which one is honest is decided by the audit, not by wishful thinking.
Fully compliant
Only permissible if the website meets all requirements of the named standard without exception. Rare in practice, and risky to claim without a solid audit, because a single provable violation refutes the statement.
Partially compliant
The requirements are mostly met, some named content isn't yet. The precondition is the concrete list of that content, and that's exactly what our automated audit delivers.
Not compliant
The requirements are mostly not met. You can and must declare that honestly too, together with a plan for how and by when that changes. An honest “not compliant” statement is legally better than a false “fully compliant” claim.
The six most common mistakes and how to avoid them
A bad statement is riskier than none at all: it documents in black and white what you should have known.
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Claiming compliance without ever auditing
“This website is fully accessible”: without an audit this sentence is a verifiable false claim. Whoever publishes it hands regulators and litigants the evidence for free, because a single measurable contrast error refutes the statement. Credible is almost always “partially compliant” with a concrete list.
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Empty boilerplate without concrete content
A copied sample statement with only the company name swapped doesn't meet the requirements. The mandatory “non-accessible content” element demands real, named items. Only someone who has actually audited their website knows them.
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Letting the statement go stale
Websites change with every release. A statement from 2023 describes a website that no longer exists. Recommendation: audit and update after every major change and at least once a year. For public bodies, regular updates are explicitly required.
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No reachable feedback contact
A form that leads nowhere, or an email address nobody reads: the feedback mechanism is a mandatory part. Users must be able to report barriers and receive an answer within a reasonable time. Two to four weeks is customary.
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Presenting an overlay widget as the solution
No widget in the world makes a website WCAG-compliant, and we say that as the maker of such a widget. Assistance tools offer visitors comfort but don't replace fixes in the code. A statement that points to an overlay as a “measure” convinces neither auditors nor courts.
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Hiding the statement
A statement nobody finds misses its purpose. It belongs on your website as its own page, linked from every page, usually in the footer, right next to the legal notice and privacy policy. And the page itself has to be accessible.
How our generator works
Other generators fill gaps in boilerplate. Ours audits your website, and afterwards the difference is right there in your statement.
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Collect your details
Seven short questions about your company, size, feedback contact and previous audits. They become the scope and feedback sections.
- 2
Audit the website
We check up to 10 pages on desktop and smartphone against the automatically testable WCAG 2.2 criteria: contrast, alternative text, structure.
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Document honestly
The most serious findings are adopted as “non-accessible content”, with the note that remediation is in progress.
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Keep it current
Statement and audit report arrive by email. Through your free account you repeat the audit and keep the statement up to date.
The legal framework in three minutes
Four abbreviations, one context. That's all you need to know for orientation.
WCAG 2.1 / 2.2
The W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the international technical standard for accessible web content. They define testable success criteria in three levels (A, AA, AAA). Level AA is what laws in Europe usually require.
EN 301 549
The European standard translates the WCAG into binding requirements for authorities and companies. It fully includes WCAG 2.1 AA and is the standard accessibility statements in the EU refer to.
EU Directive 2016/2102
Introduced the statement obligation for public bodies and defines their model: compliance status, non-accessible content, feedback mechanism, enforcement procedure. For those bodies our generator produces exactly this variant.
European Accessibility Act
Directive (EU) 2019/882 extends the obligation to the private sector since June 28, 2025, through national laws like the BFSG in Germany or Ley 11/2023 in Spain. It requires technical conformity with EN 301 549, provides for market surveillance and substantial fines, and makes transparent documentation a fixed part of a legally sound web presence.
Audit first, then declare
The free website check shows you in two minutes where your website stands today.
Important legal notice
This generator creates a non-binding template based on your answers and an automated audit. It does not constitute legal advice and doesn't replace it. Automated audits detect a relevant share of the WCAG criteria, but not all of them. A complete evaluation additionally requires a manual review.
Please have the generated statement reviewed by a lawyer before publishing, especially the classification of your obligations, the wording of exemptions and industry-specific requirements.
accessibility-check.ai assumes no liability for the completeness, correctness or legal validity of the generated statement or for damages arising from its use. The website operator remains responsible for the published content.
Frequently asked questions about the accessibility statement
Who needs an accessibility statement?
Public bodies have been obliged since EU Directive 2016/2102. Since June 28, 2025, the European Accessibility Act additionally requires accessible websites from many private-sector providers, among them online shops, banks, telecom providers and e-book offerings. Microenterprises with fewer than 10 employees and at most €2M annual turnover are partly exempt for services.
Is the generated statement legally binding?
The tool creates a non-binding template based on your answers and an automated audit, modeled on EU Directive 2016/2102 and the European Accessibility Act. It's not legal advice. Have the statement reviewed by a lawyer before publishing, especially the classification of your obligations and the wording of exemptions.
Why does the generator audit my website?
Because an honest statement has to name the actual status. Boilerplate without an audit claims things that can make you vulnerable. Our generator audits your website automatically against the WCAG 2.2 criteria and enters the found, still open issues as “non-accessible content”, including the note that they're being worked on.
What does the generator cost?
Nothing. Audit, statement and report are free. You only confirm your email address. We send the statement and audit report there, and through the free account you keep both up to date.
How often do I have to update the statement?
Whenever the accessibility status changes substantially, for example after a relaunch, new features or fixed barriers. As a rule of thumb: audit and update at least once a year. With an account at accessibility-check.ai you can have the audit repeated automatically and adjust the statement after every run.
Does the obligation also apply to apps?
Yes. Both EU Directive 2016/2102 (public bodies) and the European Accessibility Act cover mobile applications. The same principle applies to an app: its own statement, an honest status, a feedback contact. Our generator is built for websites, but the generated structure transfers to apps.
Does the statement itself have to be accessible?
Yes. An accessibility statement that only exists as a scanned PDF or is displayed with insufficient contrast misses its purpose and its obligation. Our generator delivers semantically clean HTML with a correct heading hierarchy that you can embed directly.
What happens if I don't publish a statement?
Providers under the law risk market surveillance measures up to substantial fines. And a missing or obviously wrong statement is the most easily provable violation for competitors and associations. The statement is therefore also self-protection: it documents that you know your status and are working on improvements.
How do the EU directive and the Accessibility Act relate?
EU Directive 2016/2102 addresses public bodies and defined the original statement model. The European Accessibility Act (Directive (EU) 2019/882) addresses the private sector, implemented through national laws like Germany's BFSG or Spain's Ley 11/2023. Both technically point to the same basis, EN 301 549 with the WCAG criteria, and both expect transparent documentation of the status.
Does the statement also cover PDF documents on my website?
PDF documents that are part of your offering, like forms, price lists or terms, fall under the accessibility requirements too. If individual documents aren't accessible yet (e.g. without tags or a reading order), they belong in the “non-accessible content” section of your statement, ideally with a note on when accessible versions are planned.
Your statement in a few steps, with a real audit
Free, for companies and public bodies, with the actual results of your website instead of empty phrases.
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