Both the public and the private sector are seeing a push to rapidly improve website accessibility. In Europe, a big part of this trend can be attributed to the EU Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act. Similar developments are happening in other regions as well – for example with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508 in the US.
In the EU, the first requirements are already in effect in the public sector, and the rest will roll out gradually by 2025. In most cases, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 offer a common reference for assessing accessibility.
By and large, this change revolves around a mindset shift rather than new tech capabilities. For people involved in web design and development, understanding the requirements is the first step – but in order for large-scale change to happen, they will have to be internalized and become a standard part of designing and building web-based services.