New Zealand Web Accessibility Law and Standards 2026: Human Rights Act, WCAG 2.2 and the New DAS

Last reviewed 10 November 2026 (AEST). This is general information, not legal advice.

If you build or buy digital services for a New Zealand government agency, the rules are about to widen. A draft Digital Accessibility Standard would cover apps, documents and kiosks, and would ask agencies to test with disabled people. For everyone else, the Human Rights Act already applies to any service offered to the public.

Every law and standard below has one purpose: disabled people should be able to use a service on the same terms as everyone else. WCAG conformance is how you get there. Testing with people is how you know you have.

Is website accessibility a legal requirement in New Zealand?

No dedicated law requires it. The Human Rights Act 1993 makes it unlawful to refuse a service, or provide it on worse terms, because of disability. It covers anyone supplying goods, facilities or services to the public. Core government agencies must also meet WCAG 2.2 AA. That is the position as at 10 November 2026.

The Human Rights Act 1993

Disability is a prohibited ground of discrimination under the Human Rights Act 1993 (section 21). The definition is broad. It includes physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual and psychological impairment, and reliance on an assist dog, wheelchair or other aid.

Section 44 makes it unlawful to refuse goods, facilities or services to the public because of disability. It also bars supplying them on less favourable terms. The Act says "facilities" include banking, insurance, grants, loans, credit and finance.

There is an exception. Under section 52, a provider does not breach section 44 if the person's disability needs the service delivered in a special way. That applies only where the provider "cannot reasonably be expected" to deliver it that way. In practice, the question is what a provider could reasonably be expected to do.

The Act does not mention websites or apps. We found no published Human Rights Review Tribunal decision about an inaccessible website.

Government is covered too. Part 1A of the Act applies the same standards to government actions and omissions. It links to section 19 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, which protects freedom from discrimination.

How complaints work

The route is the same for public and private providers. A disabled person complains first to Te Kāhui Tika Tangata Human Rights Commission. Its dispute resolution is free and confidential, and usually involves mediation. The Commission says it does not investigate complaints or decide whether the law was broken.

If mediation fails, the person can take a claim to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. They may apply for free legal representation from the Office of Human Rights Proceedings. So enforcement depends on one person being willing and able to pursue a complaint.

New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006

The New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006 makes NZSL an official language. It gives people the right to use NZSL in legal proceedings. Section 9 says government departments should consult the Deaf community "so far as reasonably practicable". They should also use NZSL to promote services and share information, and make services accessible to Deaf people.

Section 8 says official status does not, on its own, create enforceable rights outside legal proceedings.

International obligations

New Zealand ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 25 September 2008. Its Optional Protocol took effect on 4 November 2016 (Ministry of Justice). Article 9 requires equal access to information and communications technology.

The UN Committee issued its latest concluding observations on New Zealand on 26 September 2022. It was concerned about continued barriers to "information and communications technologies and systems". It also noted reports that the accessibility bill lacked enforcement, might not cover private bodies or local government, and set no fixed time frames.

Under Article 21, the Committee noted gaps in Easy Read, sign language and Braille. It also noted a shortage of NZSL interpreters, including trilingual interpreters working in NZSL, English and te reo Māori. It recommended strengthening the Accessibility Charter and extending it to local authorities.

Do New Zealand government websites have to meet WCAG 2.2?

Yes. Since 17 March 2025, the NZ Government Web Accessibility Standard 1.2 has required WCAG 2.2 Level AA for in-scope pages of mandated agencies. Those are Public Service departments, the NZ Defence Force, NZ Police and the Parliamentary Counsel Office. Other public bodies are encouraged, not required, to follow it, as at 10 November 2026.

The government web standards come from a 2003 Cabinet decision. Other public sector and local government organisations "are not required to implement the Standard, but are encouraged to do so". That wording comes from an archived copy of the standard's page, dated 22 March 2025.

Version 1.2 replaced version 1.1 on 17 March 2025. Its main requirement is that each in-scope page meets WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Limited exceptions apply to complex visual maps and some audio and video.

Version 1.2 also strengthened the video rules. Captions should be provided for all live video. Audio description should be provided for prerecorded video published from 17 March 2025. Both must be provided for "high-stakes information or services".

High-stakes content covers disability, emergencies, benefits, housing, health, tax, elections and public consultations. The guidance says automated captions on their own are "currently insufficient".

The Web Usability Standard sits alongside it and covers things like contact details and site ownership. Under the Government Procurement Rules, 5th edition, agencies outsourcing web development must require the work to meet the latest web standards. The 5th edition folds the old Rule 61 on web standards into Rule 17, on notices of procurement.

The Accessibility Charter

The Accessibility Charter was agreed by State sector chief executives in July 2017 and launched in February 2018. Signatories commit to meeting the web standards. They also commit to formats such as Easy Read, NZSL, Braille, large print and audio.

The Charter is voluntary, with no enforcement. Whaikaha (Ministry of Disabled People) now runs the all-of-government alternate formats process and plans to refresh the Charter.

What is the Digital Accessibility Standard and when does it start?

Early 2027 is the planned start. The draft Digital Accessibility Standard (DAS) would replace the Web Accessibility Standard 1.2 for mandated agencies. It is based on the European standard EN 301 549 and covers apps, documents and hardware as well as websites. Existing technology would have until 2031. The final text was not published as at 10 November 2026.

The DAS is led by the Government Digital Delivery Agency (Te Pūnaha Matihiko), working with Whaikaha. The details below come from the Large Print summary of the draft, published for consultation in 2026. Public consultation ran from 13 July to 7 August 2026.

For the first time, a government standard would ask mandated agencies to test with disabled people. It would also require accessibility statements, a three-year accessibility plan and plain language. Contracts to buy or build technology would have to require suppliers to meet it.

Agencies would also keep records of exceptions and reply to accessibility questions within three days. Coverage would still be limited to organisations mandated through the Government Chief Digital Officer. Others "are encouraged to apply it where possible". The Government Chief Digital Officer said in 2025 that it would recommend wider coverage than the current web standards.

The current standard compared with the draft DAS

The draft asks for both conformance and evidence from people. Meet the standard, then check it works for the people the law was written for.

What happened to the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill?

In August 2024, work on the bill stopped. The Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill was introduced in July 2022 and put on hold in March 2024. The government chose a Whaikaha work programme that uses existing laws and regulations instead. New Zealand still had no dedicated digital accessibility law as at 10 November 2026.

The bill was introduced on 28 July 2022 and passed its first reading on 2 August 2022. Its core feature was an Accessibility Committee of up to 10 members, most of them disabled people. The committee would identify barriers and advise the Minister. The bill created no standards, regulator or penalties.

The select committee recommended using "tāngata whaikaha Māori" to refer specifically to Māori disabled people. That is because "tāngata whaikaha" can also mean disabled people in general.

The Social Services and Community Committee reported back in June 2023. By majority, it recommended passing the bill with minor amendments. A later Cabinet paper records that "almost all submitters" supported accessibility legislation, "but most opposed the Bill in its current form".

Submitters wanted a more regulatory approach. Blind Low Vision NZ, for example, said the bill "does not go far enough". It called for enforceable standards and an independent regulator.

After the 2023 election, Cabinet was told in March 2024 that the bill was paused, with legislative priority "8 – on hold". The reason given was that a regulatory approach could raise compliance costs. In August 2024, the Minister decided to stop work on the bill (Whaikaha coversheet). Whaikaha was asked to deliver "practical and tangible improvements" using existing laws and regulations.

Whaikaha and the Accessibility Work Programme

On 15 August 2024, Cabinet decided to move disability support services from Whaikaha to the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). Whaikaha became a standalone, policy-focused ministry. The services moved to a new MSD unit on 16 September 2024. The restructure was finalised on 15 April 2025, with 204 roles moved to MSD (Whaikaha OIA response, 5 August 2025).

The Accessibility Work Programme has four focus areas: emergency management, transport, digital and information, and the built environment. Current work includes a better Alternate Formats Service, a refreshed Accessibility Charter and an Accessibility Advisory Group.

The advisory group was in place by December 2025, after more than 70 applications. In August 2026, Whaikaha said its first Access Activator programme was funding six projects of 25,000 to 100,000 NZ dollars each.

The New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030 was released in December 2025. It has five priority areas: education, employment, health, housing and justice. Accessibility is a "common thread", and the strategy names access to government information as a longstanding problem.

When did New Zealand's accessibility rules change?

17 March 2025 is the most recent change in force, when core government websites moved to WCAG 2.2 AA. Earlier milestones include the Human Rights Act 1993, the 2003 Cabinet web standards mandate and the 2008 ratification of the UN disability convention. The next planned change is the Digital Accessibility Standard in early 2027, as at 10 November 2026.

What this means for your team

The Web Accessibility Standard and the draft Digital Accessibility Standard share one aim: disabled people should be able to use government services without workarounds. WCAG 2.2 AA is the agreed way to get there, and the draft standard builds on that foundation through EN 301 549. It also adds what conformance alone can't prove, which is testing with disabled people.

Agencies that start now will know where people get stuck before the 2027 start, rather than finding out from a complaint or a tender. Suppliers will have the evidence ready when contracts begin to ask for it. A short study with blind, low-vision, Deaf, neurodivergent, older and limited-English participants shows whether people can finish the task. It also gives you a dated record of what you found and fixed. See how a study works.

Conformance and a legal obligation matter. WCAG and the laws behind it exist because disabled people met enormous barriers and had to fight for these protections. That work is respected and acknowledged.

See Me Please also firmly believes that no organisation sets out to shut out disabled people. Most teams have no idea how much friction people face. Online, that friction is largely invisible. Analytics can show that users abandon a form, but not who left or why. Without seeing who is affected, designers and engineers struggle to fix the cause. Teams are often unaware of the problem, or working within real constraints.

Accessibility is also complex, and too many people play down how hard some barriers are to fix. Some are a quick change. Others mean rethinking a whole journey, a platform or what you buy from suppliers. There is little on offer, anywhere in the world, to build accessibility capability inside teams. Most organisations still depend on handing the work to specialist consultants, often at high cost.

See Me Please is a technology company headquartered in Sydney that tests digital services with real people, and it has participants in New Zealand.

Find out where disabled people get stuck, before the DAS asks

How accessible are New Zealand government websites?

In the 17 December 2025 scan, 26 of 47 agencies scored 50 or worse on the government's automated checker, where lower is better. Seven had at least one detectable error on every page tested. Automated checks find only some WCAG failures. These are the latest figures we could confirm as at 10 November 2026.

The self-assessment years, 2011 to 2017

Mandated agencies submitted web standards self-assessments in 2011, 2014 and 2017. Access Advisors, a Blind Foundation initiative, reviewed and externally audited the 2017 round for the Department of Internal Affairs. Of 33 mandated departments, 30 submitted full results and action plans (2017 report).

The external audit found average compliance of 65 percent against the self-assessment tests. Agencies' own results were only 75 percent accurate on average. The tests failed most often were the most basic ones:

The report found that web standards capability across government "is low, and much of this work is currently outsourced". It also said the method did not test the full standard. No later round had been published, according to an archived copy of the self-assessment page (updated January 2020, captured March 2026).

Automated monitoring since 2025

In 2025, the Government Chief Digital Officer moved to automated monitoring with the Centralised Web Accessibility Checker (CWAC, pronounced "quack"). From 30 June 2025, it scans up to 100 random pages per participating agency at the end of each quarter. It uses the open-source axe-core engine. Raw results go on data.govt.nz and agency scores on digital.govt.nz.

The score is the share of tested pages with at least one automatically detectable WCAG 2.2 failure, adjusted for the viewports tested. A score of 0 means no detectable errors. A score of 100 means at least one error on every page tested. The page warns that automated tools "can only find some WCAG failures", and that a page passing them all is "not necessarily accessible".

In the 17 December 2025 scan, 47 agencies were listed on the agency leaderboard (archived copy, page updated 28 January 2026). Eight scored 10 or better. Twenty-six scored 50 or worse, and the median was 57.

Two cautions apply. These are automated scores. A low score does not prove a site is usable, and a high score may reflect one repeated template error. Quarterly scans in 2026 will have changed the figures, and we could not access the current leaderboard directly.

Conformance tells you the service meets the standard. Usability tells you whether a blind customer can pay their bill. We explain the difference in accessibility versus usability. On our platform, See Me Please has logged more than 3,200 session recordings and 7,800 tracked findings, across 26 projects for 18 organisations in Australia, the UK and Ireland (as at 10 November 2026).

Why the gap has lasted

The government's own documents point to the same causes across a decade:

• No consequences. The Department of Internal Affairs' 2020 research with disabled people recorded the view that the standard is "largely ineffective without strong incentives or enforcement". It recommended enforcing or incentivising it.
• Low in-house capability. The 2017 report found capability was low and much of the work was outsourced, so quality depended on suppliers.
• Self-reports that overstate results. Agencies' self-assessments were only 75 percent accurate, with the gap largest on the hardest tests.
• Narrow scope. The current standard covers websites and web apps only, not mobile apps, PDFs or kiosks. The DAS is designed to close that gap.
• Limited coverage. The mandate does not reach Crown entities, councils, schools or most health bodies. The UN Committee and disability organisations have raised this.
• Little testing with disabled people. Until the draft DAS, no government standard required it.

Do banks, insurers, universities and health services have digital accessibility rules?

No. Apart from core government, no sector has a binding digital accessibility standard. The Human Rights Act covers banking and insurance expressly, and industry codes mention disabled customers. Their digital commitments are soft, such as to "consider" web guidance or take "all reasonable steps". That is the position as at 10 November 2026.

Government and public services

Government is the only sector with a binding standard, and it is also moving services online fastest. The Disability Strategy names "seeing a GP, claiming a tax refund, taking a problem to the Tenancy Tribunal" as places where accessibility matters. The CWAC scores above vary widely across the agencies that run those services.

Government also keeps non-digital routes. Under the Better Later Life action plan for 2021 to 2024, the Office for Seniors works with agencies on "digital backstops" for older people. Examples include phone helplines and offline forms.

The Plain Language Act 2022 requires public service agencies to use plain language in key public documents. The Plain Language Act Repeal Bill was introduced on 24 March 2025. Disability organisations, including the Disabled Persons Assembly and IHC, opposed the repeal. When we last checked, legislation.govt.nz still showed the bill as introduced.

Banking

Section 44 of the Human Rights Act expressly covers banking. The Code of Banking Practice commits member banks to "do our best to meet the needs of all our customers". Banks also follow the guidelines for older and disabled customers, revised in April 2019 for banks to follow by 1 January 2020. They cover staff training, the New Zealand Relay service, ATMs and electronic banking.

Online, banks commit to "consider" W3C accessibility guidance and the government web standards. They also consider websites that work with assistive technology, simple screens and plain language. That is a commitment to consider a standard, not to meet one. We found no independent public data on the accessibility of New Zealand banking apps or websites.

Insurance

The Fair Insurance Code took effect on 1 April 2020. Insurers commit to take "all reasonable steps" to help disabled customers, and customers with English as a second language, understand their policy terms. In a catastrophe, insurers commit to "identify and respond to vulnerable customers based on their individual circumstances".

The Code is published in English, te reo Māori, NZSL video and audio. It applies only to Insurance Council members and sets no digital accessibility standard.

Universities and tertiary education

Kia Ōrite, the 2004 code of practice for disabled students, has been redeveloped as the Kia Ōrite Toolkit. Since September 2021, providers receiving more than 5 million NZ dollars in Tertiary Education Commission funding must submit a Disability Action Plan.

The Commission's 2023 report back to the sector noted a risk for disabled learners. If all learners find campus or online material hard to access, disabled learners "will be particularly impacted". The plans are a planning requirement, not a technical standard. We found no sector-wide data on the accessibility of learning platforms.

Health

Health services are covered by the Human Rights Act and the Health and Disability Commissioner's complaints system. In the December 2025 CWAC scan, the Ministry of Health scored 7 and Health New Zealand 76.

The Disability Strategy tracks whether disabled adults felt their accessibility needs were met. It also lists an action to put "a system in place so disabled people can record their accessibility needs". We did not find primary data on the accessibility of patient portals.

Who is affected when a digital service is hard to use?

In 2023, 851,000 people in New Zealand households were disabled, about 17 percent. The rate was 35 percent for adults aged 65 and over, and 21 percent for Māori (24 percent after age adjustment). About 25,000 people used NZSL. These were the latest Stats NZ figures we could confirm as at 10 November 2026.

The Stats NZ 2023 Household Disability Survey uses the Washington Group short-form questions. A person counts as disabled if they have a lot of difficulty with an activity, or cannot do it, even with aids. Results are not comparable with earlier surveys. People whose hearing loss is well managed by hearing aids may not be counted, even if they rely on captions.

Key figures from the survey (Stats NZ, February 2025):

• 851,000 people in households were disabled in 2023: 98,000 children and 753,000 adults.
• The adult rate rose with age: 12 percent at 15 to 44, 17 percent at 45 to 64, and 35 percent at 65 and over.
• The Māori rate was 21 percent (24 percent age-adjusted). The Pacific rate was 16 percent (21 percent age-adjusted).
• 90 percent of disabled people had internet access (Whaikaha summary, 27 February 2025).

The sections below follow the six perspectives See Me Please tests with, described on our cohorts page.

Blind people and screen reader users

About 4 percent of adults (182,000 people) were counted as disabled because of difficulty seeing, the third most common domain. Screen reader users move by headings and keyboard, and rely on text alternatives. So the three failures that persist on government sites hit them hardest: missing image descriptions, keyboard traps and poor headings. In the 2017 external audit, only 8 percent of images tested were adequately described.

Low vision

Many of the same 182,000 adults have some sight and use magnification, high contrast or larger text. The Banking Association's guidelines cover this for ATMs, with colour contrast and larger text and buttons. Online, they only ask banks to consider similar features. WCAG 2.2 adds criteria on focus visibility and target size that help people using magnification.

Deaf and hard of hearing people

About 25,000 people (0.5 percent of the population) used NZSL in the 2023 Census. For Deaf people whose first language is NZSL, written English is not always accessible, so NZSL video matters. The Web Accessibility Standard 1.2 requires captions and audio description only for "high-stakes" content. Otherwise they "should" be provided.

The UN Committee raised the shortage of NZSL interpreters, including trilingual interpreters. The draft DAS requires public sites to link to the Relay Service.

Neurodivergent people and people with cognitive disability

About 4 percent of adults were counted in the cognition domain, which covers remembering, concentrating and learning. The rate was 8 percent for Māori adults. Complex forms, time limits and dense language are common barriers. Plain language is one of the main fixes, which is why disability organisations opposed repealing the Plain Language Act. The draft DAS includes a plain language requirement.

Older people

Disability rates are highest among older adults: 35 percent of those aged 65 and over, or 283,000 people. The 2020 Department of Internal Affairs research listed seniors among the groups most at risk of digital exclusion. So did the Motu research it drew on. The Office for Seniors runs digital literacy training and the "digital backstop" commitment described above.

People with limited English

In the 2023 Census, 29 in every 100 people were born overseas. Also, 95 in every 100 could hold a conversation in English (Stats NZ). The remaining group includes young children and people who speak only another language, such as Samoan, Hindi or Mandarin. For these communities, plain language, translation and simple navigation overlap with accessibility. The Fair Insurance Code is one of the few industry codes that names people with English as a second language.

Māori and Pacific perspectives

Disability is more common among Māori, and the gap widens after adjusting for age: 24 percent against 17 percent nationally. Pacific people also have a higher age-adjusted rate, at 21 percent. The UN Committee found a lack of specific initiatives for accessible, culturally appropriate information for Māori disabled people.

The 2020 government research acknowledged that few of its participants identified as Māori, Pasifika or Asian. That is itself a gap in the evidence. The terms used by tāngata whaikaha Māori and Pacific disabled people matter, and design and testing should involve them directly.

Online safety and trust

InternetNZ's Internet Insights 2025 survey (1,003 interviews, published 2 March 2026) found 27 percent of disabled people had experienced online harm or harassment. The average was 15 percent. The 2020 government research found that "trust is a barrier to carrying out online tasks" for disabled people.

Can a New Zealand business face a complaint over an inaccessible website?

Yes. Anyone serving the public is covered by the Human Rights Act, and a disabled customer can complain to the Human Rights Commission. There is no regulator, penalty regime or published website case. The larger cost is commercial: customers who can't finish a task use a dearer channel or leave. That is the position as at 10 November 2026.

Legal and regulatory exposure

For private organisations, legal action is possible but infrequent. The Human Rights Act applies to any business serving the public, and expressly to banking and insurance. There is no fixed technical standard for the private sector and no published case law on websites. A complaint goes first to free, confidential mediation, and only unresolved complaints reach the Tribunal.

The picture changes if you also serve other markets. An organisation selling into the European Union may already be subject to the European Accessibility Act. That Act uses the same EN 301 549 standard as the draft DAS. Building to that standard once avoids duplicated work. Our EU and UK accessibility law guide covers those rules.

Government agencies

For agencies, the exposure is reputational and administrative. CWAC scores are public and ranked. Under the draft DAS, agencies would publish accessibility statements, keep records of exceptions and reply to accessibility questions within three days.

Commercial impact

About 851,000 disabled people live in households, including more than a third of people aged 65 and over. People who cannot finish a task online either use a more expensive channel, such as a branch or call centre, or leave. We have not cited a New Zealand estimate of lost spending, because the figures we found were not traceable to a primary source.

Procurement and suppliers

For government suppliers, accessibility is moving into contracts. The Procurement Rules (5th edition) already require web standards compliance when agencies outsource web development. The draft DAS would extend that to every ICT product or service an agency buys or builds. Suppliers of platforms, apps and document systems should plan for requests for EN 301 549 conformance evidence from 2027.

For a comparison of testing approaches, see See Me Please compared with Fable.

Frequently asked questions

Is website accessibility a legal requirement in New Zealand?

No dedicated law names websites. The Human Rights Act 1993 makes it unlawful to treat someone less favourably because of disability when providing goods, facilities or services. Core government agencies must also meet the Web Accessibility Standard 1.2. No dedicated accessibility law applies to private businesses as at 10 November 2026.

What accessibility standard applies in New Zealand?

Since 17 March 2025, mandated agencies have had to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA under the Web Accessibility Standard 1.2. A Digital Accessibility Standard based on EN 301 549 is planned to replace it in early 2027. Businesses are not bound by either, but WCAG 2.2 AA is the reference point most commonly used.

Who has to meet the government web accessibility standard?

As at 10 November 2026, all Public Service departments, the NZ Defence Force, NZ Police and the Parliamentary Counsel Office. Other public sector and local government bodies are encouraged but not required to follow it. The draft DAS also applies only to mandated organisations, though the Government Chief Digital Officer has said it will recommend wider coverage.

Who enforces digital accessibility in New Zealand?

No regulator enforces it. People can complain to the Human Rights Commission, which offers free, confidential mediation, and unresolved complaints can go to the Human Rights Review Tribunal. The Government Chief Digital Officer publishes automated scan scores for government websites, but there are no penalties.

What happened to the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill?

In August 2024, work on it stopped. It was introduced in July 2022, reported back in June 2023 and put on hold in March 2024. The government chose a Whaikaha work programme using existing laws instead.

Does WCAG conformance make a website accessible?

No, not on its own, but it is the right foundation. Automated checkers find only some failures, and the government's CWAC guidance says a page passing every automated test is "not necessarily accessible". The draft Digital Accessibility Standard adds testing that includes disabled people.

Do mobile apps and PDFs have to be accessible in New Zealand?

No, not under the current Web Accessibility Standard, which covers websites and web apps only. The draft Digital Accessibility Standard would cover mobile apps, PDFs, software and hardware for mandated agencies. Existing products would have until 2031.

How many disabled people are there in New Zealand?

In 2023, 851,000 people living in households were disabled, or 17 percent (Stats NZ). The rate was 35 percent for adults aged 65 and over, and 21 percent for Māori (24 percent age-adjusted). The survey used new questions, so results are not comparable with earlier surveys.

Do New Zealand banks and insurers have accessibility obligations?

Yes, in general terms. The Human Rights Act expressly covers banking and insurance, and industry codes mention disabled customers. Their digital commitments are soft: banks "consider" web accessibility standards, and insurers take "all reasonable steps" to help disabled customers understand their policies.

Is New Zealand Sign Language required on government websites?

No. NZSL is an official language, and government departments should use it to provide information "so far as reasonably practicable". The Act creates no enforceable rights outside legal proceedings, and the web standard does not require NZSL video.

When does the Digital Accessibility Standard start?

Early 2027, if the draft is confirmed. New or changed products would need to meet it from the start date, and existing products by 2031, with deadlines varying by type. Consultation ran from 13 July to 7 August 2026.

About See Me Please

See Me Please is a technology company headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Its platform runs accessibility and usability testing with real people: each project puts a digital service in front of 18 paid participants from six perspectives (Blind, Low vision, Deaf, Neurodivergent, Over-65, Limited English), drawn from a panel of more than 300 testers in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, with findings in five business days. More than 40 organisations are customers. Learn more at seemeplease.com.

Find out where disabled people get stuck, before the DAS asks

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References

How we checked this article

Every legal and policy claim was checked against a primary source: legislation, Cabinet papers, Government Chief Digital Officer standards pages, Stats NZ releases, the UN treaty body record and industry codes. Some digital.govt.nz pages block automated access, so where we used an archived copy we say so and give its date.

Material from disability organisations and research groups is labelled as such. We relied on no vendor commentary; vendor pages we found still cited WCAG 2.1 as the government requirement. Where a figure could not be confirmed at its source, we left it out.

Primary regulatory and monitoring sources

• Human Rights Act 1993 (ss 21, 44, 52, Part 1A): legislation.govt.nz
• New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, s 19: legislation.govt.nz
• New Zealand Sign Language Act 2006, ss 6 to 9: legislation.govt.nz
• Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill, as reported from select committee, 22 June 2023: legislation.govt.nz
• Cabinet paper, Confirming the status of the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill (2024, proactively released): whaikaha.govt.nz (PDF)
• Coversheet to the Cabinet paper, noting the August 2024 decision: whaikaha.govt.nz (DOCX)
• Whaikaha, OIA response on restructures, 5 August 2025: whaikaha.govt.nz (PDF)
• Whaikaha, Accessibility Work Programme: whaikaha.govt.nz
• Whaikaha update, December 2025: whaikaha.govt.nz
• Whaikaha update, August 2026 (Access Activator): whaikaha.govt.nz
• Whaikaha, Government Digital Accessibility Forum 2026: whaikaha.govt.nz
• New Zealand Disability Strategy 2026–2030: whaikaha.govt.nz (PDF)
• About the Web Accessibility Standard 1.2 (archived 22 March 2025): web.archive.org
• Web Standards effective from March 2025: digital.govt.nz
• The Digital Accessibility Standard (DAS), Large Print summary of the draft, Government Digital Delivery Agency, 2026: digital.govt.nz (PDF)
• CWAC monitoring programme: digital.govt.nz
• Agency leaderboard (CWAC), scan of 17 December 2025 (archived 12 February 2026): web.archive.org
• Web Standards Self-Assessments: digital.govt.nz
• Report: 2017 New Zealand Government Web Standards Self Assessments, 20 July 2018: dns.govt.nz (PDF)
• Digital inclusion user insights for disabled people, Department of Internal Affairs, September 2020: dns.govt.nz (PDF)
• Government Procurement Rules, 5th edition: procurement.govt.nz (PDF); mapping against the 4th edition: procurement.govt.nz (PDF)
• Plain Language Act Repeal Bill: legislation.govt.nz
• Ministry of Social Development, About the Accessibility Charter: msd.govt.nz
• Better Later Life action plan, Appendix 4, action details 2021 to 2024: msd.govt.nz (PDF)
• Human Rights Commission, Human rights questions and complaints: We're here to help (April 2024): tikatangata.org.nz (PDF)
• Ministry of Justice, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: justice.govt.nz
• UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Concluding observations on New Zealand, CRPD/C/NZL/CO/2-3, 26 September 2022: ecoi.net (PDF of UN document)
• Stats NZ, Household Disability Survey 2023: findings, definitions and design summary (February 2025): stats.govt.nz (PDF)
• Whaikaha, Many disabled people doing well (27 February 2025): whaikaha.govt.nz
• Stats NZ, Aotearoa New Zealand as a village of 100 people (2023 Census): stats.govt.nz
• Tertiary Education Commission, Disability Action Plans 2023: report back to the sector: tec.govt.nz (PDF)
• Tertiary Education Commission, Kia Ōrite Toolkit: tec.govt.nz

Disability organisations, research and industry codes

• New Zealand Banking Association, Code of Banking Practice: nzba.org.nz
• New Zealand Banking Association, Guidelines to help banks meet the needs of older and disabled customers (2019): nzba.org.nz (PDF)
• Insurance Council of New Zealand, Fair Insurance Code (2020): icnz.org.nz
• InternetNZ, Not all experiences equal when it comes to the internet (Internet Insights 2025, 2 March 2026): internetnz.nz
• Blind Low Vision NZ, position statement on the Accessibility for New Zealanders Bill: blindlowvision.org.nz
• Disabled Persons Assembly, Plain Language Act Repeal Bill submission: dpa.org.nz