Website Accessibility in 2026: What Indian Businesses Need to Know

Website accessibility in India is moving from best practice to legal requirement. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and upcoming BIS standards are changing the compliance landscape. Here's what you need to know.

The Legal Landscape in India

Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 (RPWD Act): Section 46 requires all public-facing websites and apps to follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Level AA. This applies to government websites mandatorily, and is expected to extend to private sector businesses.

BIS IS 17802:2021: India's national standard for web accessibility, aligned with WCAG 2.1. Increasingly referenced in procurement and compliance contexts.

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW: The Digital India initiative and upcoming consumer protection regulations are accelerating enforcement. Businesses that build accessible sites today avoid retrofit costs later.

WCAG Compliance Levels

• Level A: Basic accessibility (minimum requirement)
• Level AA: Standard requirement (what most regulations mandate)
• Level AAA: Highest level (aspirational for most sites)

Target Level AA for compliance.

The 4 WCAG Principles (POUR)

Perceivable

Information must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive:

• Alt text for all images (screen readers read this aloud)
• Captions for video content
• Sufficient color contrast (4.5:1 for body text, 3:1 for large text)
• Text doesn't disappear when zoomed to 200%

Operable

UI components must be operable:

• All functionality available via keyboard (no mouse required)
• No content that flashes more than 3 times per second (seizure risk)
• Skip navigation links for keyboard users
• Sufficient time to complete forms (no auto-timeout on critical tasks)

Understandable

Content and UI operation must be understandable:

• Language declared in HTML (lang="en")
• Error messages that explain what went wrong
• Form labels visible and descriptive
• Consistent navigation across pages

Robust

Content must be robust enough for assistive technologies:

• Valid HTML (use proper semantic elements: <button>, <nav>, <main>, not just <div>)
• ARIA labels where semantic HTML isn't sufficient
• No reliance on color alone to convey information

Common Accessibility Issues in Indian Sites

Low color contrast: Light grey text on white backgrounds is extremely common in Indian web design. Check every text/background combination with a contrast checker.

Images without alt text: Product images, banners, and icons frequently have missing or generic alt text ("image1.jpg").

Forms without labels: Many Indian sites use placeholder text as the label, which disappears when users start typing.

Non-semantic HTML: Buttons built with <div> and JavaScript instead of <button>. These can't be activated with keyboard.

PDFs without text layers: Scanned PDFs are completely inaccessible to screen readers.

Quick Accessibility Audit

Run these free tools:

• WAVE (wave.webaim.org): Browser extension showing accessibility errors visually
• axe DevTools: Chrome extension for detailed WCAG testing
• Google Lighthouse: Built into Chrome DevTools > Accessibility
• Contrast Checker (webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker): For color combinations

Implementation Priority

1. Add alt text to all images (1 day)
2. Fix color contrast issues (1-2 days)
3. Add proper form labels (1 day)
4. Ensure keyboard navigation works (2-3 days)
5. Add ARIA landmarks (1 day)
6. Test with screen reader (NVDA free, VoiceOver on Mac/iOS)

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Need expert help? Innovatrix Infotech builds accessible, compliant web solutions for businesses across India. Get a free consultation.