British Standard 8878 Web Accessibility Code of Practice: a short summary

Note: ISO 30071-1:2019 is the standard that replaced BS 8878. This article was correct at the time of publication but is now out of date.

British Standard 8878 (BS 8878) is the Web Accessibility Code of Practice developed by the British Standards Institution, launched on December 2010.

Unlike much of the guidance previously published, the standard aims to introduce website accessibility to non-technical professionals, including:

• Policy makers (e.g. Chief Executive Officers, Managing Directors, Headteachers, IT Managers);
• Those responsible for promoting equality initiatives (e.g. Human Resource Managers);
• Those responsible for procurement of services.
• The producers of website/online products and services (e.g. website and online services owners, project managers, web developers, designers);
• Content creators (e.g.