All digital products that the UK Intelligence Community builds, buys or uses must meet the Intelligence Community's Digital Accessibility Policy. This includes mobile-, browser- and desktop-based software, interfaces attached to physical hardware and operating systems.

A digital product will meet our policy if it:

The requirement applies differently to older apps and services depending on when they were last modified.

You can't claim an exception to the Policy solely due to lack of time, knowledge or because accessibility wasn't prioritised.

Associated legislation provides the minimum expectation, but the Policy and Design System support teams in creating inclusive experiences above these minimum standards.

However, it's not possible to guarantee an app or service is fully accessible to every possible user in every use case. There is no such thing as 'always 100% accessible'.

Apps and services will encounter accessibility problems during their lifecycle.

Teams must transparently document non-conformance and known accessibility problems in their Accessibility Statements and Accessibility Conformance Reports. You must always include the date when you plan to fix the problem.

If you work for MI6, MI5 or GCHQ, search your intranet to learn more about our specific Policy Requirements.

Unfortunately we can't currently publish the Policy online.

The guidance in the Design System is the source of truth for developing accessible apps and services, but it's not the Policy. The Design System was developed closely alongside the Policy.

The Policy makes sure the Intelligence Community departments exceeds its obligations set out in the The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018 . This legislation builds on existing obligations to people who have a disability under the Equality Act 2010 (or the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 in Northern Ireland).